The 2023 figures for new claims issued in the Media and Communications List of the King’s Bench Division (“the M&C List”) are very similar to those for 2022.   According to data derived from HM Courts and Tribunals E-Filing Service a total of 213 new claims were issued in 2023.

The 2022 figure was 202, a 64% decrease on  2021 when a total of 564 new claims were issued.  That was, itself, a 50% increase on the number of claims issued in 2020 (373).

The number of new defamation claims has remained relatively stable over the past 3 years.  In 2023 there were  111 new defamation claims, the 2022 figure was 130 , the 2021 figure was 168 and that for 2020 was 147.  It should however be noted that these figures represent a very substantial reduction from 2019’s high of 323 issued claims.

The number of “privacy” claims remains extremely low.  There were only 17 claims classified as “misuse of private information” or “breach of privacy” issued in 2023.  This was a similar number to 2022 (22) and 2021 (20) – with both years representing a significant reduction from 2020’s total of 41 new issued claims.

After defamation the largest category of new claims was data protection, with 22 issued claims.  The 2022 figure was  21 cases classified in this category – in contrast to 293 in 2021 and 126 in 2020.

The position in relation to issued claims in other categories is as follows

  • Harassment –  11 claims (2022 -8 claims, 2021, 12 claims, 2020, 16 claims)
  • Norwich Pharmacal – 11 claims (2022 -21 claims, 2021, 27 claims, 2020, 14 claims)
  • Malicious falsehood – 1 claim, (2022, 2 claims, 2021, 2 claims 2020, 5 claims).

In 2023 there were 10 claims described as “Injunctions” (in contrast to 9 in 2022, 17 in 2021 and 8 in 2020).  Finally, there were  16 claims classified as “Miscellaneous” and 6 applications for permission to read statements in open court.

We analysed claims in 2022 here, in 2021 here and in 2020 here.  Robert Sharp carried out a fuller analysis for 2020 here).

As in 2022 , a striking feature of the 2023 claims in the M&C List is that a very small number of defamation claims were brought against national newspapers and broadcasters.  There were only 8 defamation claims against national newspapers in 2023 (2022, 9; 2021, 5; 2020, 21): 3 against Associated Newspapers Limited, the publishers of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday, 2 against News Group Newspapers,  and 1 each against Times Newspapers Limited, Telegraph Media Group Ltd and Guardian News and Media. There were also 3 defamation claims against the BBC.

In addition, there were 5 privacy claims issued against Channel 5. It should be noted that phone hacking claims are not included in this list as they continue to be issued in the Chancery Division.

These figures must be viewed with a degree of caution.  The classification of cases is an administrative act and is not always accurate.  Many cases include claims for several causes of action and their categorisation may not always reflect the substantive nature of the claim.  Nevertheless, it is clear that overall the 2023 figures are very similar to those for 2022.

One  interesting footnote to the 2023 figures.  The Caseboard website enables searches of issued cases in the M&C List (and other lists) to be carried out by the names of the solicitors on the e-file. The figures show that the litigation in this area is spread across a wide range of firms.  Many well known firms were listed for only one M&C List case in 2023, with only a few involved in more than 2 cases.  In terms of claims issued in the M&C List, the leading solicitors in 2023 were as follows

7 – Cohen Davis
4 – Brett Wilson, Taylor Hampton
3 – Brandsmiths, Hamlins, Patron Law, Penningtons.

In terms of claims defended, the leading firms were

5- Government Legal Department
4 – RPC
3 – SMAB, Wiggin, Weightmans.

Before readers protest that their firms have been misrepresented in these figures, we should emphasise that they must be viewed with some caution as we have not verified the reliability of the search function and the names of solicitors are not always recorded on the e-file.