Brown v. Newfoundland Broadcasting Co., (1978) 27 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 447 (NFPC)

• Court: Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Court (Canada)
• Case Date: August 03, 1978
• Jurisdiction: Newfoundland and Labrador
• Citations: (1978), 27 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 447 (NFPC)

Brown v. NFBC (1978), 27 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 447 (NFPC);

    74 A.P.R. 447

MLB headnote and full text

Brown v. Newfoundland Broadcasting Co. Ltd.

Indexed As: Brown v. Newfoundland Broadcasting Co.

Newfoundland Provincial Court

District of St. John's

Luther, Mag.

August 3, 1978.

Summary:

This headnote contains no summary.

Criminal Law - Topic 7276

Summary conviction proceedings - Information - Amendment - Effect of - The Newfoundland Broadcasting Co. was charged with using an excessive amount of broadcasting time for non-Canadian programs, contrary to section 29(1) of the Broadcasting Act, R.S.C. 1970, n. B-11 - The information laid against the Newfoundland Broadcasting Co. was defective in substance - Prior to trial, the informant, Brown, applied to amend the information - The Newfoundland Provincial Court dismissed the original information and stated that if an amendment was allowed it would have the effect of bringing a new information into existence beyond the limitation period for summary conviction proceedings and that the new information would therefore, also have to be dismissed - See paragraph 8.

Criminal Law - Topic 7285

Summary conviction proceedings - Informations - Form and content including sufficiency of charge - The Newfoundland Broadcasting Co. was charged with an offence contrary to s. 29(1) of the Broadcasting Act - The information did not disclose where the offence was alleged to have occurred - The Newfoundland Provincial Court dismissed the charge and held that failure to set out the place of the offence in the information was a defect in substance - See paragraph 2 and 3.

Cases Noticed:

R. v. Guimaraes, 23 C.C.C.(2d) 217, refd to. [para. 4].

R. v. J.D. Irving Ltd. (1975), 12 N.B.R.(2d) 108; 10 A.P.R. 108; 28 C.C.C.(2d) 242 (N.B.C.A.), refd to. [para. 5].

R. v. Greene (1976), 11 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 322; 22 A.P.R. 322; 74 D.L.R.(3d) 354 (Nfld. C.A.), appld. [para. 7].

Statutes Noticed:

Broadcasting Act, R.S.C. 1970, c. B-11, sect. 29(1) [para. 1].

Television Broadcasting Regulations S.O.R. Cons. 1978, c. 381, sect. 6A(1)(a) [para. 1]; sect. 6A(b)(ii) [para. 1].

Criminal Code of Canada, R.S.C. 1970, c. C-34, sect. 732(1) [para. 4]; sect. 732(2) [para. 4]; sect. 732(3) [para. 4].

Counsel:

Augustus G. Lilly, for the defendant company;

Thomas O'Reilly, for the informant.

This case was heard before LUTHER, MAG., of the Newfoundland Provincial Court, District of St. John's.

On August 3, 1978, LUTHER, MAG., delivered the following judgment: