The curtain has been lifted on the identity of Newfoundland lawyer Robert Regular after the Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday refused to hear an appeal that would have allowed him to continue withholding his name from publication.
Until now, the 70-year-old Regular has been known in court cases in Newfoundland and Labrador only by the initials RR.
He faces four counts of sexual assault and one count 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 filed against Regular in June 2021. The other two charges were filed in January.
Last year, Regular obtained a temporary injunction in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador to block his name from being published in connection with these criminal proceedings.
CBC News and CTV News intervened, arguing that the ban would violate the principle of an open court and freedom of the press.
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In March, Justice James Adams sided with the media organizations.
Adams ruled that granting a publication ban would be contrary to the open court principle and would change the law in Canada.
“If a publication ban is granted in this case, then almost anyone charged with a criminal offense may seek the same protection,” the judge wrote in his ruling.
“This would represent a fundamental change in criminal law. The appropriate authority to make such a change is Parliament, not the courts.’
Adams found that Regular’s presumption of innocence is not at risk if a publication ban is not granted.
“By protecting the appellant’s reputation by issuing an injunction against his identity, the court would seriously prejudice the public interest in encouraging people with relevant information about such allegations to stay out,” Adams wrote in his decision.
“It would also adversely affect the public interest that all persons accused of crimes be treated fairly and equally.”
The judge lifted the ban on Regular’s name, but put that decision on hold pending Regular’s motion for the Supreme Court of Canada to hear the matter.
Regular is represented by the renowned attorneys of St. John’s Rosellen Sullivan and Jerome Kennedy, as well as Scott Hutchison of the high-profile Toronto law firm Henein Hutchison LLP.
They argue that disclosing Regular’s identity risks his presumption of innocence, the confidentiality and reputation of other professionals in his field.
The lawyers argued that publication of his name would cause permanent damage to Regular, even if he was found not guilty.
“The combined effect of the Internet that never forgets and the current capacity of social media to spread irrelevant, inaccurate or outdated information cannot be overstated,” they wrote in the court filing.
The Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear arguments from Regular, who wanted the publication ban on his name to remain in place. (Patrick Morrell/CBC)
Regular has practiced law for more than three decades as an attorney on the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland.
The Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador has sanctioned him five times since the early 1990s for numerous professional offenses – none of which are criminal in nature.
Regular agreed that the ban could be lifted if he is eventually convicted.
Victims of sexual assault are automatically protected by a ban on publication of their identity due to the nature of the crime.
However, the accused is not protected by such a prohibition unless it is necessary to conceal the identity of the victim.
The regular has opted for a trial by judge and jury. A seven-day trial is scheduled to begin in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador on May 29, 2023.
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