Citizen journalists, standards of care, and the public interest defence in defamation – Jacob Rowbottom

18 12 2018

The public interest defence under section 4 of the Defamation Act 2013 replaced the old defence of Reynolds privilege. A number of cases have since established that the old criteria for responsible journalism under Reynolds is still relevant when assessing the reasonable belief requirement of the new defence. Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Libel

Case Preview: Lachaux v Independent Print, Supreme Court to hear “serious harm” appeal – Mathilde Groppo

6 11 2018

On Tuesday and Wednesday 13 and 14 November 2018, the Supreme Court (Lords Kerr, Wilson, Sumption, Hodge and Briggs) will hear the appeal in Lachaux (Respondent) v Independent Print Limited and another (Appellants) UKSC 2017/0175, against the Court of Appeal decision of Davis LJ, with whom MacFarlane and Sharp LJJ concurred ([2017] EWCA Civ 1334). Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Libel

Business as usual? The Court of Appeal considers the threshold for bringing a libel claim in Lachaux v Independent Print Ltd – Iain Wilson and Tom Double

16 09 2017

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.  Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 12 Comments »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Libel

Lachaux, Seriously limiting serious harm – Nicola Cain

14 09 2017

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”. Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 5 Comments »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Libel

News: Defamation and “Serious Harm” Court of Appeal dismisses Lachaux appeal

12 09 2017

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. Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 4 Comments »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Libel

Case Law: Zahawi v Press TV, Fake News: memes, terrorism and jurisdiction – Susan Aslan

9 05 2017

This libel claim was brought by Nadhim Zahawi, the Conservative MP for Stratford-on-Avon against Press TV, the First Defendant, an English language news and documentary network based in Iran. It is affiliated with the State owned Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.  The Second Defendant is a UK Limited company.  Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Libel

Defamation Act 2013: You cannot be serious – Tom Rudkin

3 03 2016

Defamation ActOn 1 January 2014, the Defamation Act 2013 came into force in England and Wales, introducing a series of new provisions applicable to the law of libel and slander.  Cue a frenzy of speculation among media and reputation management lawyers as to how the new Act would be interpreted by the courts and, more importantly, what impact it would have for those seeking to protect their reputations in the face of false and damaging allegations. Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Libel

« Previous Entries