Libel trial of Joseph Howe

"[1] Scholars, such as John Ralston Saul, have argued that Howe's libel victory established the fundamental basis for the freedom of the press in Canada.

[2] Historian Barry Cahill writes that the trial was significant in colonial legal history because it was a long delayed replay of the Zenger case (1734).

[4] Howe had eventually reached his breaking point and in late 1834 wrote in the Novascotian that he was going to start a campaign in the interest of bringing to light the wrongful actions of government.

"[9] The trial took place in the present day library of Province House (Nova Scotia) and the judge in the case was Brenton Halliburton.

[1][12] In fact, eight years after the trial, Howe's successor at the Novascotian Richard Nugent was charged and found guilty of libel (1843).

[1] Beck also notes that in 1843, the British Parliament passed a law that allowed the accused to use truth of the libel as their defence, which led to freedom of the press.

However, scholar Cecil Rosner states, "The Howe trial is noteworthy more for its symbolic effect than any legal precedent it may have set...charges of sedition have largely disappeared [but] journalists across the country continue to face civil libel threats...".

[16] Howe's trial removed the fear of prosecution from these newspapers for having political commentary of their own, as Campbell puts it, "The sense of what was possible had changed.

Saul argues that Howe created the, "...intellectual foundation of how we still struggle to solidify and to widen the nature of freedom of speech and of the press.