Conrad Black libel case going to top court

Canada's top court has agreed to hear an appeal of an Ontario ruling that confirmed the province as jurisdiction for a libel suit launched by Conrad Black.

Black, the former media magnate who served time in a U.S. jail for 2007 conviction on fraud and obstruction of justice, has been fighting in the courts since the Hollinger International Inc. media empire he headed collapsed in the middle of the decade.

Among his actions, he filed libel actions in Ontario about statements posted on the Hollinger website in October 2004 by six directors, advisers and an executive of the company who took control after Black was removed as chairman in January that year.

The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled in August that the province was the right jurisdiction for Black to sue about the statements, which were widely reported by the media in Ontario and other areas.

That is the ruling which the Supreme Court of Canada will consider in a hearing set for March 22.

The defendants were directors, advisers and a vice-president of Hollinger International. They are Richard Breeden, Gordon A. Paris, James R. Thompson, Richard D. Burt, Graham W. Savage and Raymond G.H. Seitz.

(Published by CBC News - December 16, 2010)