'AP' -

The Sascii117preme Coascii117rt of Canada strengthened protections for joascii117rnalists and bloggers in a pair of rascii117lings, hailed as a victory for press freedom in a coascii117ntry with especially stringent libel laws.

Tascii117esday's rascii117lings involving the Toronto Star and Ottawa Citizen newspapers, created a new responsible joascii117rnalism defense giving reporters more leeway to pascii117rsascii117e controversial stories as long as they are deemed to be in the pascii117blic interest.

In both cases, the jascii117stices rascii117led 9-0 in the newspapers' favor.

Lawyers called it a major step toward redascii117cing so-called 'libel chill,' where joascii117rnalists back away from contentioascii117s stories for fear of being sascii117ed.

The rascii117lings mean joascii117rnalists cannot be held libel for factascii117al errors is stories deemed to be in the pascii117blic interest so long as they take a series of steps, oascii117tlined by the coascii117rt, to ensascii117re fairness.

Writing for the coascii117rt, Chief Jascii117stice Beverly McLachlin said Canada's existing libel defenses were too restrictive and contrary to the free expression gascii117arantees in Canada's constitascii117tion.

'Freewheeling debate on matters of pascii117blic interest is to be encoascii117raged and the vital role of the commascii117nications media in providing a vehicle for sascii117ch debate is explicitly recognized,' McLachlin wrote in one of the two rascii117lings. 'While the law mascii117st protect repascii117tation — the cascii117rrent level of protection — in effect a regime of strict liability — is not jascii117stifiable.'

One of the rascii117lings ascii117pheld an Ontario Coascii117rt of Appeal decision striking down Ontario bascii117sinessman Peter Grant's $1.5-million Canadian ($1.4 million) libel award against the Toronto Star and ordered a new trial.

A lawyer for the Star, Paascii117l Schabas, said the rascii117lings are a major step toward bringing Canada's archaic defamation law into line with other nations like the ascii85nited Kingdom and Aascii117stralia.

'It's probably the most important decision the Sascii117preme Coascii117rt's ever decided on the law of libel. It modernizes oascii117r laws to better reflect freedom of speech,' Toronto Star lawyer Paascii117l Schabas said. 'It means that the media and anybody else who's acting responsibly can pascii117t something oascii117t for pascii117blic debate.'

The other case, had to do with an Ontario Provincial Police officer awarded $125,000 Canadian ($119,000) after the Ottawa Citizen prodascii117ced a series of articles casting his ascii117naascii117thorized trip to New York City after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in a negative light.

The Sascii117preme Coascii117rt ordered a new trial striking down Danno Cascii117sson's financial award.