Stalking victim warns of legal loophole – BBC News
‘Stalkers must be stopped from using a loophole in the legal system to harass their targets, a victim has said.’
BBC News, 29th April 2015
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: defamation
TV ‘exposure’ of Scientology halted by UK libel law split – The Guardian
‘Plans to broadcast HBO’s Church of Scientology exposé, Going Clear, have been shelved by Sky Atlantic in a virtual repeat of events two years ago, when UK publishers abandoned publication of the book on which the hard-hitting new TV documentary is based.’
The Guardian, 18th April 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Libel and slander – Law Society’s Gazette
‘The Defamation Act 2013 in some respects reformed the English law on defamation. Here are example cases in which it has been applied since last January.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 30th March 2015
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
How to sue in respect of abusive comments on the Internet – UK Human Rights Blog
‘The facts of this case are simple. A defamatory comment was posted on the claimant’s Google maps directional page, implying that he was a “loser” as a lawyer and that his firm lost “80%” of cases brought to them. The defendant claimed that someone must have hacked in to his own Google account to put up the post.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 25th March 2015
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Section 1 Defamation Act 2013: Will the test of the hypothetical reasonable reader be replaced by that of the twitter troll? – 5RB
‘In this article, 5RB‘s Adrienne Page QC discusses what section 1 Defamation Act 2013 means in practice, and how it may affect both claimants and free speech.’
5RB, 10th February 2015
Source: www.5rb.com
High Court awards £50,000 damages to lawyer libelled in online review – Legal Futures
‘An American lawyer has successfully sued over an online review posted by a British man, winning £50,000 damages at the High Court.’
Legal Futures, 9th March 2015
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Lawyers ‘are using threats to stop negative client reviews’ – The Independent
‘Thin-skinned lawyers are abusing their legal standing by threatening defamation action against members of the public who post negative reviews of their services on TripAdvisor-style websites.’
The Independent, 5th March 2015
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Complaints to solicitors’ regulator over libel demands from Galloway’s lawyers – The Guardian
‘Complaints have been sent to the Solicitors Regulation Authority by Twitter users who have received £6,000 libel demands from solicitors working for the MP George Galloway.’
The Guardian, 4th March 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Googling Orgies – Thrashing out the Liability of Search Engines – Panopticon
‘Back in 2008, the late lamented News of the World published an article under the headline “F1 boss has sick Nazi orgy with 5 hookers”. It had obtained footage of an orgy involving Max Mosley and five ladies of dubious virtue, all of whom were undoubtedly (despite the News of the World having blocked out their faces) not Mrs Mosley. The breach of privacy proceedings before Eady J (Mosley v News Group Newspapers Ltd [2008] EWHC 687 (QB)) established that the ‘Nazi’ allegation was unfounded and unfair, that the footage was filmed by a camera secreted in “such clothing as [one of the prostitutes] was wearing” (at [5]), and also the more genteel fact that even S&M ‘prison-themed’ orgies stop for a tea break (at [4]), rather like a pleasant afternoon’s cricket, but with a rather different thwack of willow on leather.’
Panopticon, 30th January 2015
Source: www.panopticonblog.com
Andrew Mitchell loses Plebgate libel trial – The Guardian
‘Andrew Mitchell, the Tory MP and former cabinet minister at the centre of the Plebgate row lost his high court libel trial on Thursday in a ruling which sees him facing a legal bill of millions of pounds and leaves his political career in tatters.’
The Guardian, 27th November 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Google case over online abuse to begin in High Court – BBC News
‘The case of a UK businessman who wants Google to stop malicious web postings about him appearing in its search results is set to begin.’
BBC News, 24th November 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Bewry v Reed Elsevier UK Ltd (trading as LexisNexis) and another – WLR Daily
‘Where a court was determining whether to exercise its discretion under section 32A of the Limitation Act 1980 to disapply the one-year limitation period applying by virtue of section 4A of the 1980 Act to a claim for libel, the claimant’s ignorance of the limitation period would rarely if ever be a factor which carried any or any significant weight given the policy reasons underlying the one-year limitation period for libel claims.’
WLR Daily, 30th October 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Daily Mail faces £3m bill after libel battle with businessman Andy Miller – The Guardian
‘The Daily Mail faces a potential legal bill that could be as high as £3m, believed to be among the highest since controversial no-win, no-fee agreements were introduced, after libelling a businessman.’
The Guardian, 14th November 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Dr Daniel Ubani wins costs from Cambridgeshire victim’s son – BBC News
‘A man whose father was killed by a lethal overdose from a doctor said he feels “physically sick” at the idea of paying the physician’s legal costs.’
BBC News, 7th November 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Lady Gaga the polo pony in High Court libel battle – Daily Telegraph
‘A polo pony called Lady Gaga was at the centre of a High Court libel battle after her ‘reputation was slurred’ on YouTube.’
Daily Telegraph, 22nd October 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Gerry McCann attacks ‘disgraceful’ Sunday Times after £55k libel payout – The Guardian
‘Gerry McCann, the father of missing Madeleine, has accused the Sunday Times of behaving “disgracefully”, after winning a libel payout from the newspaper in a case he believes proves how little the industry has changed following the phone-hacking scandal. McCann and his wife Kate were handed £55,000 in libel damages from the Murdoch-owned paper over a front page story which alleged that the couple had deliberately hindered the search for their daughter, who went missing in Portugal seven years ago.’
The Guardian, 2nd October 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Law firm wins injunction against former client over online harassment – Legal Futures
‘A law firm has won an injunction against a former client who set up websites about the firm with its name in the URL, after the High Court deemed his actions to be harassment.’
Legal Futures, 29th September 2014
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Yeo v Times Newspapers Ltd – WLR Daily
Yeo v Times Newspapers Ltd: [2014] EWHC 2853 (QB); [2014] WLR (D) 383
‘Since all factual issues in a libel action were for the eventual substantive tribunal it was inappropriate that the outcome of a preliminary application for trial by jury in such an action should be informed by a decision as to whether the case was about factual allegations or about value judgments.’
WLR Daily, 20th August 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Cooke and another v MGN Ltd and another – WLR Daily
Cooke and another v MGN Ltd and another: [2014] EWHC 2831 (QB); [2014] WLR (D) 379
‘By not defining the term “serious harm” in section 1(1) of the Defamation Act 2013, Parliament had left it to the courts to decide whether the serious harm test had been satisfied on the individual facts of contested claims. In cases where the statements complained of were so obviously likely to cause serious harm to a person’s reputation, that likelihood could be inferred from the words used without the need for further evidence.’
WLR Daily, 13th August 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
