In a judgment which betrays the complete lack of familiarity the law of defamation of its panel of three the Court of Appeal has overturned decades of precedent on a key issue in defamation proceedings, which is the establishment at an early stage of the defamatory meaning/sting of a publication (the two terms being synonyms). Continue reading
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Tag: Meaning (Page 2 of 2)
Preliminary hearings on meaning are becoming the norm in defamation actions, as parties view them as a relatively cheap and efficient way of determining a key issue at the outset. In Barron MP & Others v Jane Collins MEP [2015] EWHC 1125 (QB), three Labour MPs for constituencies in the Rotherham area brought a libel action against a UKIP candidate over a speech she made at the UKIP Conference. Continue reading
An allegation of infidelity is defamatory, but an allegation of infidelity which imperils or destroys a home and family unit is particularly disreputable. This was the position adopted by Danny Simpson, the Premier League footballer, at the trial of a preliminary issue on meaning in respect of an article published in the Daily Mirror in November 2012. Continue reading
In a judgment handed down on 20 August 2014 in the case Yeo v Times Newspapers ([2014] EWHC 2853 (QB)) Mr Justice Warby decided that the trial of a defamation action brought against the Sunday Times by senior Conservative MP Tim Yeo will take place without a jury. The Judge dismissed an application by the newspaper’s publisher, Times Newspaper Ltd, for a jury trial. He went on to determine the meaning of the words complained of. Continue reading
A claim for damages brought by RBoS Shareholders Action Group Limited (“the Action Group”) against News Group Newspapers Limited (as publishers of The Scottish Sun) has been settled with the publication of an apology and the payment of damages and costs. Continue reading
The Court of Appeal have allowed the appeal of the Sunday Times in the libel case brought former Conservative Party Treasurer, Peter Cruddas ([2013] EWCA Civ 748) against the ruling of Mr Justice Tugendhat that the published articles made an allegation of corruption contrary to the criminal law ([2013] EWHC 1427 (QB)). The Court set aside the orders striking out the defence of justification and entering judgment for the claimant. The trial will now have to proceed. Continue reading
On 5 June 2013 Mr Justice Tugendhat handed down a reserved judgment following the pre-trial review in the case of Cruddas v Calvert ([2013] EWHC 1427). He accepted the case advanced by the claimant, former Conservative Party Treasurer, Peter Cruddas, as to the meaning of the words complained of. As a result, he struck out the defence and entered judgment for an injunction and damages to be assessed at the trial on 17 June 2013. Permission to appeal was refused. Continue reading
On 28 February 2013 the Court of Appeal delivered judgment in Waterson v Lloyd [2013] EWCA Civ 136. The decision grapples, once again, with the elusive distinction between fact and comment in the law of defamation. By a majority, the Court of Appeal held that publications by a political candidate criticizing his opponent’s ‘scandalous’ parliamentary expenses claims were statements of comment, rather than statements of fact. Continue reading
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