Identity of N.L. lawyer in sexual assault case revealed as top court won't hear anonymity bid
CBC
The curtain has been lifted on the identity of Newfoundland lawyer Robert Regular, after the Supreme Court of Canada declined Thursday to hear an appeal that would allow him to continue shielding his name from publication.
Until now, Regular, 70, has been known on court dockets in Newfoundland and Labrador only by the initials R.R.
He is facing four counts of sexual assault and one of sexual interference, involving the same alleged victim. She was 12 at the time of the first alleged assault two decades ago.
Three of the charges were laid against Regular in June 2021. The other two charges were filed in January.
Last year, Regular was granted an interim ban in Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court, to block his name from being published in relation to those criminal proceedings.
CBC News and CTV News intervened, arguing the ban would interfere with the open-court principle and freedom of the press.
In March, Justice James Adams sided with the media organizations.
Adams ruled that granting the publication ban would run counter to the open-court principle and would change the law across Canada.
"If a publication ban were to be issued in this case, then almost anyone charged with a criminal offence could claim the same protection," the judge wrote in his decision.
"This would constitute a sea change in the criminal law. The appropriate authority to make such a change is Parliament, not the court."
Adams found that Regular's presumption of innocence is not at risk if no publication ban is granted.
"In protecting the applicant's reputation by issuing a ban on his identity, the court would be seriously impacting the public interest in encouraging persons with relevant information about similar allegations from coming forward," Adams wrote in his decision.
"It would also negatively impact the public's interest in seeing that all individuals charged with criminal offences are treated fairly and equally."
The judge lifted the ban on Regular's name, but stayed that decision pending Regular's bid to have the Supreme Court of Canada hear the matter.
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