Luke Cooper’s case shows damage of abolishing trial by jury in libel cases – The Guardian
“Judges indulge barristers far too much. Let’s not abandon jury trials so casually.”
The Guardian, 28th June 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Category: defamation
Libel reform campaigners demand better public interest defence – The Guardian
“Past defendants of libel claims, including Simon Singh and Ben Goldacre, say proposed changes would not have helped them.”
The Guardian, 27th June 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Libel reform comes around less often than Halley’s comet. Let’s get it right – The Guardian
“The defamation bill will do little to stop corporations suing individuals and should include a public interest defence.”
The Guardian, 27th June 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
University tutor wins £60,000 libel damages from Mail and Standard – The Guardian
“A university tutor has won £60,000 in libel damages from the Daily Mail and London Evening Standard over stories alleging he was involved in violence at a demonstration against education cuts.”
The Guardian, 22nd June 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Jamie Redknapp’s former partner launches legal action against BSkyB – The Guardian
“The woman at the centre of the sexism row involving former Sky Sports pundits Richard Keys and Andy Gray has launched a legal action against parent company BSkyB.”
The Guardian, 18th June 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Anti-cuts university tutor begins libel action against Mail and Standard – The Guardian
“A university tutor described by the Daily Mail and London Evening Standard of having a key role in violent anti-cuts protests in London has begun a landmark libel action against the two newspapers.”
The Guardian, 18th June 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Met police pays damages to phone-hacking solicitor accused of lying – The Guardian
“The solicitor who spearheaded the campaign to bring Scotland Yard’s failings over phone hacking to light has accepted damages from police after false claims that he gave dishonest evidence to a parliamentary inquiry.”
The Guardian, 14th June 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Q&A: Who are internet trolls – and how is the law changing? – BBC News
“Website operators in the UK may soon have to identify people who have posted defamatory messages online, allowing the victim to undertake legal action against the ‘troll’ rather than against the website.”
BBC News, 12th June 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Internet trolls targeted in new bill to tackle defamation online – The Guardian
“Major reforms of the libel laws will see a duty placed on internet service providers to try to identify internet trolls without victims needing to resort to costly legal action.”
The Guardian, 12th June 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Article on Henry v News Group Newspapers Ltd – 4 New Square
“From 1 October 2011 to 30 September 2012 the Royal Courts of Justice and the District Registry at Manchester are operating a pilot scheme for Costs Management in Defamation Proceedings (‘the Defamation Proceedings Costs Management Scheme’), as contained in Practice Direction 51D to Part 51 of the Civil Procedure Rules. This scheme provides detailed rules for costs management, including the provision and approval of costs budgets, and is indicative of the approach propounded by Lord Justice Jackson in his Final Report on Civil Litigation Costs.”
Full story (PDF)
4 New Square, 31st May 2012
Source: www.4newsquare.com
Man cleared of Bedford lake murder wins libel against police – BBC News
“The boyfriend of a woman found dead in a lake in Bedford has won a libel action against police who claimed he probably killed her.”
BBC News, 1st June 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Solicitor accused of playing golf while charging £300 an hour wins libel damages – Daily Telegraph
“A solicitor wrongly accused by a millionaire client of charging him £300 an hour for legal work whilst playing golf has won an apology and substantial damages after succeeding in his libel action.”
Daily Telegraph, 30th May 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Libel on the internet: Christian author takes on Dawkins and Amazon – UK Human Rights Blog
“In an interesting ruling on a strike-out action against a libel claim, a High Court judge has delineated the scope for defamation in blog posts and discussion threads where the audience is small and the libel limited.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 16th May 2012
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
How to make a truly fair libel law – The Guardian
“Libel law is meant to protect the reputation of individuals, not corporations. The defamation bill must redress the balance.”
The Guardian, 10th May 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
New Bill will reform libel laws – The Independent
“A Bill to protect freedom of speech and reform the libel laws is to be introduced into Parliament, it was announced in the Queen’s Speech.”
The Independent, 9th May 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
The rising cost of free speech: Reynolds, contempt and Twitter – UK Human Rights Blog
“Free speech is under attack. Or so it seems. The last few weeks have been abuzz with stories to do with free speech: a Supreme Court ruling on the Reynolds defence to libel; contempt of court proceedings against an MP for comments made in a book and the latest in a growing line of criminal trials for Twitter offences. The diversity of media at the heart of these stories – print news, traditional books and online ‘micro-blogging’ – indicates the difficulty of the task for the legal system.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 12th April 2012
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Author Chris McGrath faces six figure legal bill after unfavourable Amazon reviews case is struck out – The Independent
“An author who tried to sue a father of three from the West Midlands over comments made in a series of unfavourable reviews on Amazon is facing a six figure legal bill after a judge struck out his case.”
The Indpendent, 4th April 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Charlotte Church article in People could be defamatory, judge rules – The Guardian
“An article in the People newspaper claiming Charlotte Church had drunkenly proposed to her boyfriend at a pub karaoke night could be seen as defamatory because she was a ‘star’, a high court judge has ruled.”
The Guardian, 28th March 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
What can and can’t you say on Twitter? – BBC News
“A student who made racially offensive comments about footballer Fabrice Muamba on Twitter has been jailed for 56 days – the latest case where a comment made on social media has landed someone in court.”
BBC News, 28th March 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
