CARMEL RICKARD: A legal slapp down
The Canadian supreme court has ruled against a developer for using the courtroom as a means of stifling democratic expression
Patricia Goliath, deputy judge president of the Western Cape, is a woman with much on her mind: an alleged plot against her life, said to have been planned by judge president John Hlophe; increasingly sour relations between herself and Hlophe; and a toxic atmosphere in their division of the high court. Not to mention her leadership duties at the court, and the judgments she is expected to deliver as usual.
One such case, argued in June, is part of a series of related matters in which a major international company is suing local environmental activists and an environmental lawyer for defamation. The company, Mineral Commodities, and its local officials are demanding huge amounts of money for the alleged defamation...
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