With the escalation of fury we are witnessing over the publication (and re-publication) of the Danish cartoons my curiosity over Canadian blasphemy laws was aroused and I did a quick search of the CED on Westlaw. This is what results: "At common law, blasphemy and blasphemous libel consisted of the publication of contemptuous, reviling, scurrilous or ludicrous matter relating to God, Jesus Christ, the Bible, or the formularies of the Church of England. It was not blasphemy at common law to attack any religion except Christianity, and an attack on the Christian religion had to be such as tended to lead to a breach of the peace. While it is blasphemy to publish attacks upon God, it may no longer be blasphemous to publish attacks upon the doctrines of Christianity or upon Christian clergy. The publisher must intend to publish, but need not intend that the publication amount to blasphemy. The blasphemous words may be spoken or written." [Footnotes omitted]. Well it doesn't seem to have been applied to attacks on Christianity within my memory and I haven't noticed that God, anyone's God, has had his, or her, day in court of late. [Illustrations omitted]. By the way – a "formulary" is defined as "A book or other collection of stated and fixed forms, such as prayers".
Respond: make a comment | read the 7 comments
Share:
Email
|
Save as PDF | Print
|
Bookmark & Share
|
|
More: in Miscellaneous | from Nick Pengelley
|
the count:
8227 posts | 11407 comments
recent comments  
There is good leagal content that doesn’t necessarily come in the neat packages that we usually look in. Though our commercial legal database subscriptions have linked, vetted, edited, and easily. […] »»Research When you need to collaborate on a document displayed on your screen, it’s great to have a colleague from down the hall come into your office and look over your … »»Technology You should assess whether you can accept the financial risks associated with taking the matter, just as clients will assess whether they can (and will) pay your fee. Spend time at the beginning of the. […] »»Practice
-
Available online today are four new chapters of the publication Women in Canada: A Gender-based Statistical Report, which explores the socio-demographic and economic circumstances of Canadian women in general.
-
The bill amends the Constitution Act, 1867 by readjusting the number of members and the representation of the provinces in the House of Commons.
-
-
Blueseed plans to buy a ship and turn it into a floating incubator anchored in international waters off the coast of California.
-
Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the flow of information out of Ottawa has slowed to a trickle.
-
-
"…the IPC has exclusive jurisdiction to decide whether a record is in the custody or control of a university in the context of an access request…"
-
-
John J.L. Hunter, Q.C. of Vancouver has been elected President for 2011-2012
-
Detailed results from 321 members.
These summaries of selected recent cases are provided each week to Slaw by Maritime Law Book.
More information.
-
Banks and Banking - Liability of banks to third parties - Negligence - General
The plaintiffs were the former shareholders of a company that failed. They sued the defendant bank alleging that it breached its contract with the company and the plaintiffs and breached a duty ...
-
Actions - Cause of action - General principles - New or extended cause of action - Opening of floodgates
The plaintiff and defendant worked at different branches of the same bank. The defendant’s common-law husband was the plaintiff’s ex-husband. Over a four year period, the defendant ...
-
Aliens - Definitions and general principles - Immigration consultants
The Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (CSIC) had been designated as the sole regulatory body of immigration consultants in Canada from 2004 until June 2011. On June 30, 2011, Bill C-35 came into force, which significantly amended ...
-
Criminal Law - Sexual offences, public morals and disorderly conduct - Public morals - Obscenity - Possession of child pornography
The accused was convicted of making child pornography available and two counts of possession of child pornography (see [2010] Sask.R. Uned. 197). Subsequently, he was sentenced ...
-
Criminal Law - Procedure - Charge or directions - Jury or judge alone - Directions regarding pleas or evidence of witnesses, co-accused and accomplices
Rowe was convicted by a jury of five offences. He appealed.
The Ontario Court of Appeal allowed ...
-
Narcotic Control - Offences - Possession - General
The accused wished to access marijuana for medicinal purposes but did not have an authorization to possess marijuana issued under the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations. He was notified that a package of marihuana addressed to him had been ...
-
Narcotic Control - General - Legislation - Exemptions - Medicinal marijuana
McCrady, who had an application pending under the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR) to possess and grow marijuana, was convicted of possession of marijuana (Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA), s. 4(1)). Hearn pleaded guilty ...
-
Criminal Law - Sentence - Trafficking in hashish or marijuana (incl. possession for purposes of trafficking)
The accused pleaded guilty to one count of possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. He was sentenced to 30 days’ imprisonment to be served intermittently and 11 months’ ...
-
Municipal Law - Powers of municipalities - Particular powers - Imposition and collection of taxes or fees
Catalyst Paper Corp. operated a paper mill in the District of North Cowichan. Catalyst objected to the tax rate that it paid compared to residential ratepayers. In 2009, the ...
This is a listing of a few upcoming events in Canada of interest to lawyers, law students, legal librarians, and others involved in the practice of law.
Clicking on any event in the list below will give you access to more information and to links allowing you to see the full entry and to add the event to your own calendar.
Click this link for a fuller version of the TalkLaw/ParLoi calendar of events and for instructions as to how to add events and calendars to your own calendar.
|
Don't you remember Whitehouse v. Lemon, the gay Christ poem case? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitehouse_v._Lemon
And for recent commentary see http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,753268,00.html
Today it wouldn't survive a Canadian Charter challenge but interestingly Blair has had problems in this area recently. See Rowan Atkinson and the defeated amendments to the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill,
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,17129-2020243,00.html
You can see one of the cartoons that have caused the fuss on the SFGate site, a web site for the San Francisco Chronicle.
Well if you're giving links, the whole enchillada is at http://face-of-muhammed.blogspot.com/
Does anyone else feel like we are living through a Monty Python skit with this?
Hungarian phrasebook anyone?
http://www.geocities.com/fang_club/hungarian_phrasebook.html
I was intrigued by these posting. Like Simon, I use the Oxford Companion to Law for intitial research in these kinds of areas. The entry under blasphemy gives a leading UK case of Bowman v. Seculary Society [1917] AC 406 and a text by Nokes, "History of the Crime of Blasphmeny". Nick is only partially right, I think, about current controversy over Christianity in court, at least in the US, as witness recent cases on "intelligent design". See Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District 400 F. Supp. 2d 707 (December 2005)
If that Canadian law is still in affect, I'm in big doo doo.