We have, once again belatedly, caught up with the most recent annual Judicial Statistics – those for 2013. These show a substantial decrease in the number of issued defamation claims, down 24% from 2012. In 2013 there were 142 issued defamation claims in London (where the large majority of claims are made) – as opposed to 186 in 2012. This is the lowest annual figure since 2002 and appears to be the second lowest of all time. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Month: October 2014 (Page 2 of 5)
In the case of Loughran v Century Newspapers ([2014] NICA 26) the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal considered a case in which a newspaper relied on the Curistan principle in relation to statutory qualified privilege and decided that a pleaded case of malice was not fit to go to the jury. Continue reading
Google has recently confirmed that it is refusing to extend its “de-indexing” procedures following the Google Spain decision to Google.com. This position is legally indefensible and is likely to be challenged in an EU court in the near future. Continue reading
On 20 October 2014 The Times had an alarming front page story with the headline “Police use loophole to hack phones and email” [£]. It was said that the police were “hacking” into hundreds of people’s voicemails, text messages and emails, using a “loophole” in surveillance laws. The complaint was that, instead of obtaining a warrant from the Home Secretary, the police were “getting round the rules” – by obtaining a production order from a Judge. Continue reading
Judge Thokozile Masipa has, today, sentenced Oscar Pistorius to 5 years’ imprisonment in respect of his conviction for culpable homicide. Judge Masipa’s judgment in respect of the conviction, handed down last month, led to a sea of divided opinion. Continue reading
On 20 October 2014 a Statement in Open Court was read in the High Court in the case of Jean Bernard Fernandez-Versini v. National Magazine Company Ltd. Continue reading
The trial of six senior staff and journalists from the Sun began last week at the Kingston Crown Court. There are nine counts on the indictment against the journalists: Chris Pharo, Jamie Pyatt, Graham Dudman, Ben O’Driscoll, Jamie Pyatt and John Troup. In addition, former Surrey police officer Simon Quinn is charged with misconduct in a public office. The full charges can be found here. Continue reading
At the beginning of October, The Sun launched a campaign against what has become known as ‘revenge porn’. A number of famous people have been victims of the practice, which consists of a former partner publishing intimate material without their ex’s permission. Continue reading
On 9 October 2014, the Media Standards Report published a new report entitled Addressing the Democratic Deficit in Local News through Positive Plurality Or, why we need a UK alternative of the Knight News Challenge [pdf] Continue reading
In 2011, as the phone-hacking scandal unfolded, Prime Minister David Cameron pledged a new era of transparency in the government’s dealings with the media. All meetings between senior government and media figures were to be recorded and published on a quarterly basis and a major public inquiry was launched – partly with a focus on the relationship between press and politicians. Continue reading
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