Cyber Libel Updates

Canadian Internet Defamation Rulings
This case is filed under Limitations Defences
See all Limitations Defences Cases ➤
2012 January 18
Matandi v. Société Radio-Canada, 2012 QCCS 65

The Quebec Superior Court dismissed a defamation action concerning a Radio-Canada broadcast on January 17, 2003 which was also posted on the defendant’s website. Article 2929 of the Quebec Civil Code stipulated a one year limitation period for a defamation action commencing on the day the person defamed learned of the defamatory expression. The Court rejected the plaintiff’s evidence that he did not learn of the 2003 broadcast until he received a letter in 2006 from an African political party refusing to accept his candidature for an election in the Congo. The plaintiff did not file his lawsuit until June 27, 2007, which the Court found was outside the one year limitation period.