The Supreme Court today handed down its long awaited judgment in the case of Lachaux v Independent Print ([2019] UKSC 27). The appeal was dismissed on the facts but the Court overturned the Court of Appeal’s interpretation of the “serious harm” test in s.1(1) of the Defamation Act 2013, preferring the analysis of Warby J at first instance. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Month: June 2019 (Page 3 of 4)
In advance of tomorrow’s eagerly awaited Supreme Court “serious harm” decision in Lachaux v Independent Print, the 2018 Judicial Statistics show, for the second year running, a substantial increase in the number of issued defamation claims. Continue reading
The Trinity Legal Term began on Tuesday 4 June 2019 and ends on Wednesday 31 July 2019. This post deals with the media law cases listed for this term and cases in which decisions are awaited. Continue reading
The Trinity Legal Term began last Tuesday 4 June 2019. The first full week of term will see the hand down on Wednesday 12 June 2019 by the Supreme Court (Lords Kerr, Wilson, Sumption, Hodge, and Briggs) of its long awaited judgment in the “serious harm” case of Lachaux v Independent Print. Continue reading
A few days ago, Waleed Aly asked a not-so-rhetorical question in The Sydney Morning Herald. He wondered how many Australians were worried about the fact that the Australian Federal Police had spent a good portion of last week raiding the offices and homes of journalists who’ve published stories clearly in the public interest. Continue reading
A typical plot development in old novels is the sudden discovery of unexpected wealth, usually in the form of an inheritance, or the discovery of a long lost will or hidden relationship to a wealthy benefactor. Continue reading
In his first address to the caucus after Labor’s shock election loss, Bill Shorten pointed to conservative interests “spending unprecedented hundreds of millions of dollars advertising, telling lies, spreading fear … Powerful vested interests campaigned against us through sections of the media itself, and they got what they wanted”. Continue reading
“Fake news” – a term ironically made popular by Donald Trump – is a real problem for our democracy. This is not news which the publisher reasonably believes to be true because, for example, steps have been taken to verify the information. Continue reading
One week before the EU elections, the German YouTuber Rezo published an almost hour-long video titled “The destruction of the CDU”. In the video, the influencer – who usually posts light-hearted apolitical content such as YouTube challenges – sets out a broad range of arguments why the disregard of scientific evidence and resulting incompetent policy-making by the German parties CDU, SPD (and also far-right AFD) should convince citizens to vote for other parties. Continue reading
In the case of Raynor v Murray ([2019] NSWDC 189) the District Court of NSW ordered Patricia Murray, a tenant of Manly residential flats known as “Watermark”, to pay damages of $120,000 to the chairman of the building’s strata committee for a defamatory email regarding an unlocked mailbox. Continue reading
Recent Judgments
© 2026 Inforrm's Blog
Theme by Anders Norén — Up ↑