With the Supreme Court of Canada deciding it will not hear his appeal on a publication ban, the identity of a Newfoundland lawyer accused of sexually assaulting a female multiple times — starting when she was only 12 years old — can now be published.
Conception Bay South lawyer Robert Regular has lost his bid for a publication ban on his name as he goes to trial for five charges of sexual violence against a female between 2001 and 2013.The country’s top court has declined to hear an appeal from a Newfoundland lawyer hoping to keep his identity a secret as he faces charges of sexual violence.
Under Canadian law a publication ban is mandatory to protect the identity of a complainant in a sexual assault case, and the ban will extend to the accused if the publication of the accused's name would cause the complainant to be identified. Otherwise, the identity of those accused of sexual assault is not generally banned from publication.
Regular applied for a publication ban on his identity after he was charged last year. It was granted on an interim basis until submissions could be made on it in Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court. The Crown and media outlets opposed his application. Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court building in St. John's.-Joe Gibbons/The Telegram - Joseph GibbonsThe Crown argued presumption of innocence guarantees Regular a fair trial, but doesn’t protect him from public embarrassment. A publication ban in this case would mean everyone charged with a crime could make the same application, the Crown argued, submitting the law doesn’t recognize special treatment for lawyers. CBC and CTV, which were granted intervenor status, made similar arguments.
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