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19.06.19

Supreme Court confirms defamation is no longer actionable per se

In Lachaux v Independent Print Ltd & Anor [2019] UKSC 27 the Supreme Court sought to clarify the meaning of section 1(1) of the Defamation Act 2013.  The Supreme Court was unequivocal in its rejection of the Court of Appeal’s interpretation of section 1(1) and its endorsement of Mr Justice Warby’s analysis of the law…

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16.05.19

Meeting the serious harm threshold in defamation claims: Claimants gets second bite of the cherry

In the case of Tinkler v Ferguson & Ors [2019] EWCA Civ 819, the Court of Appeal provided some much-needed clarification on whether a claimant is able to demonstrate by evidence at trial that a defamatory statement has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to his/her reputation after the Court has declined to…

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2.07.18

Defamation/ Libel: Defamation claims up by 40% in 2017

Inforrm, the leading independent media law blog, reported last week that judicial statistics for 2017 show a 40% increase in the number of defamation claims issued. 156 defamation claims were issued in London in 2017, compared with 112 in 2016. These figures debunk the theory that has been, somewhat lazily, it might be said, regurgitated…

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16.05.18

Huffington Post settles Lachaux libel claim

Recently we reported that the Supreme Court had granted The Independent permission to appeal the decision in the Lachaux v Independent Print Ltd [2017] EWCA Civ 1334.  The case concerns the “serious harm” threshold for bringing a defamation claim and is unarguably the most important defamation decision since the inception of the Defamation Act 2013.  Much has…

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15.09.17

Business as usual?  The Court of Appeal considers the threshold for bringing a libel claim in Lachaux v Independent Print Ltd.

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.  The decision interprets both the meaning of section 1(1) of the Defamation Act…

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Articles are intended as an introduction to the topic and do not constitute legal advice.