QuizOn 1 January 2013, we published the third “Inforrm” Media Law Quiz – set by the winner of the 2010 and 2011 quizes, Benjamin Pell. There were 45 tough questions arising out of the Media Law Cases of the past 12 months. It may be that Mr Pell’s reputation for encyclopedic knowledge put off some potential contestants. Not many of our readers and contributors had the courage to submit entries. Thank you to those who did.

The winner of this year’s contest was regular Inforrm contributor and media law blogger, Judith Townend who received what Mr Pell described as a “highly creditable” 32 marks out of a possible total of 49. She will receive a copy of Media and Public Shaming: Drawing the Boundaries of Disclosure, edited by Julian Petley

THE INFORRM MEDIA LAW QUIZ – 2012 the Answers

1. Judges

(a) Which judge revealed that a relative may be a claimant?’

Mr Justice Vos. Major David Brooks, a claimant in the voicemail litigation, is married to his niece

(b) Which judge included a French nursery rhyme at the end of his judgment?

Mr Justice Bean, in Mengi v Hermitage [2012] EWHC 3445 (QB) (“Cet animal est tres méchant; Quand on l’attaque, il se defend”).

(c) Which judge was overturned by a judge who will be unable to do the same thing in 2013 although both are still sitting?

Lord Neuberger’s Court of Appeal decision was overturned by Lord Dyson in Flood v Times Newspapers Ltd [2012] UKSC 11 (21 March 2012). However, Lord Dyson is now Master of the Rolls, and stepped down as a Justice of the Supreme Court on 30 September 2012. Lord Neuberger, former Master of the Rolls, was sworn in as the Second President of the Supreme Court on 1 October 2012.

(d) Which judges realised after more than 100 days that they were unable to reach a unanimous decision and what happened next?

Lord Justice Gross and Mr Justice Irwin in Chambers v DPP (known as the ‘Twitter joke trial’ – Lord Justice Gross then ordered an adjournment of the case to be heard before constitution of three judges. It was reheard by the Lord Chief Justice, Owen and Griffith Williams JJ and the appeal was allowed (Chambers v Director of Public Prosecutions [2012] EWHC 2157 (Admin) (27 July 2012)

(e) Which judge said “Your country needs you”?

Mr Justice Tugendhat, in speech to the 5 Raymond Buildings Annual Conference.

2. What do the following have in common?

(a) Mrs Justice Slade, Mr Justice Lindblom and Mrs Justice Nicola Davies

All of the judges heard privacy cases last year

(b) Hacked Off, Children In Need, Reprieve

They have all been the beneficiaries of libel/privacy damages donated by successful claimants.

(c) Times Newspapers Limited, Andrew Gilligan, Viagogo Limited

They were each claimants and defendants in 2012 media law cases.

(d) £65,000, £90,000, £125,000

All 3 were sums in damages awarded to successful libel Claimants in 2012.

(e) Mr Justice Eady, HHJ Radford and The Recorder of Belfast

All made judgments in cases determining whether press footage should be handed over to police (Dale Farm; Mark Duggan shooting; Ardoyne riot.)

(f) Citation PLC v Ellis Whittam Limited, Waterson v Lloyd & Anor , Rothschild v Associated Newspapers

These are all reserved judgments over the festive reason in 2012 and Lord Justice Laws sat in all three.

3. Trials

(a) Which trial lasted one hour?

Thour v The Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust

(b) Which trial took four days and with judgment being given eight days later?

The trial in the case of Joseph v Spiller.

(c) Which case settled after a two day trial?

Wiseman v Sullivan.

4. Defamation Bill and Leveson Report

(a) Which MP who was on the Defamation Bill’s House Of Commons Public Committee will not be present when the Bill returns to the House?

Denis MacShane. He has now left the House of Commons.

(b) Which defamation lawyer is able to take part in debates about the Defamation Bill when it returns to The House Of Commons and why couldn’t he say anything in the House about it until the Report Stage?

Sir Edward Garnier QC – prior to the Report Stage he had been Solicitor-General.

(c) Who said “I am not a proper defamation lawyer, although I have dabbled in it” and who did this person describe as “the most knowledgeable and open-minded of all the QCs practising at the libel Bar”?

Lord Lester QC and Heather Rogers QC

(d) What was the first recommendation made by Lord Justice Leveson that has been accepted by the Government?

That the proposed amendments to the rules regarding CFAs and recoverability of ATE premiums should not apply to libel/privacy actions until cost protections are introduced.

(e) Which MP referred to Page 1781 of Lord Justice Leveson’s Report three hours after it was published?

Jacob Rees-Mogg

(f) Which former judges are attempting to overturn a House Of Lords decision in the House Of Lords and how can they do this?

Lords Lloyd and Woolf supported an amendment to the Defamation Bill which aims to overturn the decision of the House of Lords (in its judicial capacity) in Telnikoff v Matusevitch 

5. What is the significance of the following numbers for media lawyers in 2012?

(a) 97?

The number of days of sitting of the Leveson Inquiry

(b) 210?

The number of days between the conclusion of the trial and the delivery of judgment in Miller v Associated Newspapers.

(c) 1061?

Luke Cooper’s libel trial was the first jury trial since June 2009, a period of 1061 days.

(d) 1987?

The number of pages in the Leveson Report

6. Anonymisation

(a) In which privacy case which was discharged by consent had the Claimant been described in 3 different ways in the full listing?

Goodwin v NGN

(b) Which three letters have been used to anonymise a Claimant and also a Defendant this year?

WXY – in the cases of WXY v Gewanter and Stone v WXY (Persons Unknown).

(c) In which privacy case were two judgments handed down on the same day?

Spelman v Express Newspapers

7. The Olympics

(a) Which libel lawyer is linked both to the Olympics and to The X Factor?

Jacob Dean

(b) Which case involved the Olympics and Lord Coe?

Abbey v Gilligan

(c) Which gold medalist is being sued by their own parents for libel and slander?

Tianna Madison

(d) Which prominent libel landmark is linked to the Olympics?

The Royal Courts of Justice.  The Olympic victory parade on 10 September 2012 went past the Courts and prominent judges stood on the balcony

8. More on Trials and Appeals

(a) How many libel trials took place in 2012?

There were ten – Cooper, Boyle, Cairns, Bento, Miller, Mengi, Joseph, Qadir, Thour and Rothschild.

(b) How many privacy trials took place in 2012?

There were four – AAA, Abbey, SKA and Trimingham.

(c) In how many libel appeals did Eady J, Tugendhat J or Sharp J appear on the panel?

Four – Ashcroft v Foley, Cairns v Modi/KC v MGN, Cammish v Hughes and Rothschild v Associated.

9. Who said at the Leveson Inquiry the following and about whom did they say it? :

(a) “If I had come to the conclusion that he was telling the truth, I would have torn the place apart and we wouldn’t be here today.”

Rupert Murdoch about former News of the World royal editor, Clive Goodman

(b) ”I shook her hand and said ‘hello Rachel’, and I don’t think that went down very well, so it wasn’t a good start.”

Alan Johnson MP, about meeting Rebekah Brooks

(c) ”I do not need to be told about the importance of freedom of speech, I really don’t.”

Lord Justice Leveson, to Michael Gove

10. Social Media

(a) Which victim of online trolls obtained a disclosure order against Facebook?

Nicola Brookes

(b) Which judge allowed a claim to be served via Facebook and what is the name of the case?

Mr Justice Teare, in AKO Capital LLP and Anor v TFS Derivatives and Others

(c) Who joined Twitter on 23 Jan and 27 Jan?

@onebrickcourt joined on 23 January 2012; @5rb joined on 27 January 2012

(d) Whose first Tweet was “First tweet. Had to be up at 330 to go to train station so did radio interview – Sun published Harry pics. A day late. “news?” ?

Mark Lewis (@marklewislawyer)