ON APPEAL FROM THE COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO
Constitutional law -- Charter of Rights -- Freedom of
expression -- Spreading false news -- Criminal Code prohibiting
wilful publication of false statement or news that person knows
is false and that is likely to cause injury or mischief to a
public interest (s. 181) -- Whether s. 181 of Code infringes
s. 2(b) of
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms -- If so,
whether s. 181 justifiable under s. 1 of Charter -- Vagueness
-- Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, ss. 1, 2(b) --
Criminal Code, R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46, s. 181.
Criminal law --
Spreading false news -- Criminal Code
prohibiting wilful publication of false statement or news that
person knows is false and that is likely to cause injury or
mischief to a public interest (s. 181) -- Whether s. 181 of
Code infringes the guarantee of freedom of expression in
s. 2(b) of Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms -- If so,
whether limit imposed by s. 181 upon s. 2(b) justifiable under
s. 1 of Charter -- Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,
ss. 1, 2(b) -- Criminal Code, R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46, s. 181.
The accused was charged with spreading false news contrary
to s. 181 of the Criminal Code, which provides that "[e]very
one who wilfully publishes a statement, tale or news that he
knows is false and causes or is likely to cause injury or
mischief to a public interest is guilty of an indictable
offence and liable to imprisonment . . .". The charge arose
out of the accused's publication of a pamphlet entitled Did Six
Million Really Die? The accused had added a preface and
afterword to an original document, which had previously been
published by others in the United States and England. The
pamphlet, part of a genre of literature known as "revisionist
history", suggests, inter alia, that the killing of six million
Jews before and during World War II and the Holocaust was a
myth perpetrated by a worldwide Jewish conspiracy. The accused
was convicted after a lengthy trial. On appeal, his conviction
was upheld on constitutional grounds but struck down for errors
in admitting evidence and in the charge to the jury. The matter
was sent back for a new trial. The accused was again convicted
and his conviction was affirmed by the Court of Appeal. This
appeal is to determine whether s. 181 of the Code infringes the
guarantee of freedom of expression in s. 2(b) of the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms and, if so, whether s. 181 is
justifiable under s. 1 of the Charter.
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