by Ian Elliot
Northern News Services

NNSL (Dec 17/97) - The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has lost its appeal of a conviction for breaking a publication ban.

The NWT Supreme Court is also allowing the Crown to appeal the CBC's acquittal on a second ban-violation charge in a ruling released late last week, setting the stage for another trial.

Noting that the two separate judgments on similar charges are the consequence of two different judges ruling on the same issue, Justice John Vertes upheld the CBC's 1996 conviction for broadcasting the name of a woman who testified as a victim during the preliminary hearing of a sexual assault case, and who killed herself before the trial.

The CBC was charged twice: once for using her name when reporting on the aftermath of the trial in March, 1996, and again at the inquest into her death in June of that year. The charges were dealt with by two different judges on different occasions, and resulted in two opposing verdicts.

CBC lawyers argued that the ban on publishing the woman's name ended with her death, and that the courtroom ban did not extend to the coroner's inquest. It also argued several technical points about how the publication ban was imposed.

Their arguments were rejected by Justice Vertes, who said the CBC had been rightfully convicted on the first charge and that the second charge should not have been dismissed. He stated that a publication ban at a trial covers the identity of the complainant, whether the information identifying them comes from a trial or another source, such as an inquest.

The CBC was fined $6,900 for breaking the ban and that fine was also upheld.