2013 February 6

Gichuru v. Pallai, 2013 BCCA 60

The British Columbia Court of Appeal rejected an appeal by the plaintiff, a non-practising lawyer, from a summary trial judgment dismissing his libel action concerning an online posting. The plaintiff had failed to prove publication of the allegedly defamatory posting. The defendants had denied: (i) any involvement in making or posting the allegedly defamatory statement; (ii) that they had authorized anyone to make it; (iii) that they knew in fact who made it; and (iv) that they had seen the posting on the Internet or knew of anyone who had. At the summary trial on affidavits, the plaintiff failed to tender any evidence that the defendants had posted or asked to anyone to post the statement. The Court of Appeal held that the lower court’s decision that the matter was appropriate for disposition by summary trial was entitled to appellate deference. In this case, the plaintiff’s failure to prove publication, a threshold issue, was fatal to his claim.