The long-awaited decision in Lachaux v Independent Print Ltd [2017] EWCA Civ 1334 has brought some badly-needed clarity and certainty to the law of libel, and it seems fair to say that reports of the death of the libel writ have been greatly exaggerated. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Month: September 2017 (Page 2 of 3)
The Government yesterday published the Data Protection Bill [pdf] which is intended to replace the Data Protection Act 1998 and to deal with various matters reserved to EU Member states by the General Data Protection Regulation [pdf] (“GDPR”). The GDPR itself will form part of English law under the provisions of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill [pdf]. Continue reading
Trumpeting the Defamation Act 2013 when it received Royal Assent, the Ministry of Justice publicised section 1(1) of the Act, which provides that “A statement is not defamatory unless its publication has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the reputation of the claimant“, established “a requirement for companies and individuals to show serious harm to establish a claim“. The Act, according to Lord McNally, represented “the end of a long and hard fought battle to reform the libel laws in England and Wales”. Continue reading
It was announced yesterday that Matthew Nicklin QC, a media law specialist and Joint Head of 5RB, has been appointed as a Justice of the High Court with effect from 2 October 2017. Continue reading
On 12 September 2017 the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in the important “serious harm” case of Lachaux v. Independent Print ([2017] EWCA Civ 1334). The Court unanimously dismissed the appeals of the defendants against the decision of Warby J ([2015] EWHC 2242 (QB)) that the claimant had established “serious harm” within the meaning of section 1 of the Defamation Act 2013. Continue reading
The decision of the Grand Chamber of the Court of Human Rights handed down last week in Bărbulescu v Romania ([2017] ECHR 754) is a surprising one that acts as a warning to employers. The Court held that the Article 8 rights of an employee breached when his employer monitored his personal communications on Yahoo Messenger. Continue reading
This is the second in our series of “Summary Round Ups” covering media and law developments during the Summer Legal Vacation. This covers matters since our Round Up of 21 August 2017. Continue reading
I have recently posted a paper on SSRN entitled “Compensation for breach of the General Data Protection Regulation”; this is the abstract: Continue reading
The reputation of global PR company Bell Pottinger has suffered a massive blow. The boss has resigned, clients have walked, the firm has been expelled from the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) – and it has now put itself up for sale. All because of its work on a controversial contract in South Africa. Continue reading
As stories of Russian “information warfare” in various Western countries continue to mount, governments, intelligence agencies and journalists are fretting over the influence of global media outlets funded by autocratic governments. But while these organisations are clearly meant to serve their sponsor governments’ agendas in various ways, is the West right to be so worried about them? Continue reading
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