The One with LKY v. Globe

Was doing my SLS assignment a few days back when I discovered this interesting case: LKY v. Glove Mail & etc. Read about it in pdf format here: http://www.sgmlaw.com/userfiles/filescase/file_1299668_dewart.PDF

Dunno if it's actually a download. But I dunno how to post links yet. So that's pretty much the max you can expect of me posting a link as of now.

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Lee v. Globe and Mail (Nair v. Lee)


In March 1999, the Globe and Mail published an article about Singapore and its former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. The article included an interview with the former head of Singapore's most powerful trade union, Devan Nair. Nair had also been President of Singapore from 1981 to 1985. Nair and Lee had once worked together, but became political rivals in the 1980's.


In the article, Nair alleged that, when he and Lee began disagreeing about how Lee was governing Singapore, he became the centre of a rumour-mongering campaign that falsely labelled him an alcoholic. He was forced to resign as President in 1985. The article also discussed the many libel actions Lee and other members of his government have brought against their critics.


Lee, who is still a minister in Singapore's government, sued the Globe and Mail and Nair for defamation, alleging that the article brought him into hatred, ridicule and contempt.


Nair countersued, seeking damages on the basis that Lee's lawsuit was an abuse of process. In turn, Lee brought a motion to have Nair's counterclaim thrown out of court. Lee argued that Nair's counterclaim disclosed no reasonable cause of action and constituted an inflammatory attack on the integrity of the government of Singapore.


In deciding whether to grant Lee's request to throw out the counterclaim, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice was not required to determine whether Nair's allegations were true; rather, the Court simply had to satisfy itself that Nair had a reasonable cause of action. Therefore, Nair was required to demonstrate that the two elements of the tort of abuse of process had been set out in his statement of claim. They are: (1) that Lee was using the court process for an improper purpose; and (2) that Lee had made an overt threat, separate from the proceedings themselves, in furtherance of his improper purpose.


With respect to the first part of the test, Nair claimed that Lee did not really care what the readers of the Globe and Mail thought of him. Rather, the real purpose of the lawsuit was to silence, not only Nair, but all of Lee's critics and opposition in Singapore, a country in which freedom of political expression is not as valued as it is in Canada. In this regard, Nair alleged, Lee's action was part of a pattern of using the libel process to silence his critics and opposition and was "a mere stalking horse intended to further foster and continue a climate of fear and intimidation".


On the second part of the test, Nair claimed that Lee's lawsuit was just the latest in a series of acts and threats designed to intimidate his critics. In this regard, Nair alleged that when he spoke out politically against the Lee government in the late 1980's, Lee attempted to silence him by tabling a white paper in Singapore's parliament which included extracts of a confidential nature from Nair's personal medical records and correspondence. Nair claimed that Lee also arranged to have his pension withheld. Nair eventually left Singapore and came to Canada, where he did not speak out again until interviewed by the Globe and Mail. He claimed that Lee's latest libel action, brought in the country in which he sought freedom from political threats and overt legal actions, was intended to be a threat which was on-going and pervasive.


The Ontario Superior Court of Justice refused to throw out Nair's counterclaim, holding that he had met both parts of the test necessary to plead the tort of abuse of process and had therefore disclosed a reasonable cause of action.

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Wasn't that amazing? Heh. You'd trust the PAP to win only in Singapore. But enough about politics. Let's talk about my recent experience with shit.

Yup shit. Think it was yesterday morning when I woke up and went to toilet to find shit all over the cubicle. Toilet seat, floor and even the wall. Yup. Wall. Isn't that amazing? I have no idea how they did it. But the next time I see it, I'm taking a picture.

As I said yesterday, today is a pretty boring day. Only perk of the day was due to me getting my pirated DVD: SHUAN OF THE DEAD from Karwee. That's like $8 well spent. The trailer was hilarious. Those interested in seeing this gem should check out the trailer at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365748/trailers

After I watch the show at about 6+, then I'll post a blog on the review. Meanwhile. I am so going to catch a nap. Then. It'll be client's letter tonight. No rest for the wicked..

Beware of the sick cat.