Month: October 2012

28.10.12

Online abuse and harassment: criminal remedies

The irresponsible publication of inaccurate, abusive or private material online can give rise to a number of different civil causes of action. The most common of these are libel, harassment, misuse of confidential information and breach of the Data Protection Act 1998. The application of the latter three is a relatively new development in law….

26.10.12

No civil recovery of foreign held assets

In Perry v sOCA 2012 UKsC 35 a nine member panel of the supreme Court convened to decide whether Part 5 civil recovery orders could extend to property located outside the UK. In fact, the actual subject matter of what were conjoined appeals was the granting of a Property Freezing Order over property located outside the jurisdiction and…

25.10.12

The right of an applicant to be heard when making an application

In Frey & Ors v Labrouche [2012] EWCA Civ 881 the Court of Appeal gave important guidance on the right of a party to make oral submissions when making an application. In the underlying proceedings before the Chancery Division of the High Court the Defendant made an application that the claim be struck out as an abuse of…

23.10.12

Government to introduce Deferred Prosecution Agreements

The Ministry of Justice has announced plans to introduce legislation which will allow prosecuting agencies to make ‘Deferred Prosecution Agreements’ with companies accused of corporate crime.  The Us-style agreements will allow a company to avoid prosecution if it accepts culpability, takes corrective action and pays a financial penalty.  If the company does not comply with the terms…

Daily Mail and Daily Mirror fined for contempt of court over Milly Dowler reports

The Daily Mail and The Daily Mirror have each been fined £10,000 by the High Court over articles they published on 24 June 2011 following the conviction of Levi Bellfield for the murder and abduction of Milly Dowler.  At the time jurors were still deliberating over a separate count – the attempted kidnap of Rachel Cowles.  As a result of…

Jury award Frankie Boyle £54,650 following libel victory

Comedian Frankie Boyle has succeeded in his libel claim against MGN Limited, the publishers of The Daily Mirror.  Mr Boyle had sued The Daily Mirrorover an article that alleged he was a ‘racist comedian’ and had been ‘forced to quit’ the BBC Mock the Week show. The trial of the action started on 15 October 2012 before a jury presided…

22.10.12

Supreme Court confirms courts have power to strike out dishonest claims after judgment

In Fairclough Homes Ltd v summers [2012] UKsC 26  The supreme Court overturned a line of authorities and held that a claim could be struck out after trial or even after an assessment of damages if it subsequently transpired that it was dishonest. surveillance evidence came to light after trial to show that the Claimant had grossly exaggerated the extent of…

Information Commissioner investigates legality of police's retention of mobile phone data

Christopher Graham, the Information Commissioner, has told a parliamentary committee that his office is investigating whether police forces are breaching data protection laws by retaining data downloaded from suspects’ mobile telephones. It is understood that a number of police forces are routinely extracting mobile phone data in police stations from suspects. Data downloaded can include call history,…

18.10.12

Elton John's tax avoidance libel claim thrown out

Elton John’s libel claim against the publisher of The Times has been dismissed after Mr Justice Tugendhat found that the words sued upon were not capable of carrying the defamatory meaning pleaded or any other defamatory meaning. In John v Times Newspapers Ltd (Rev 1) [2012] EWHC 2751, Mr John sued over an article that appeared in The Times on 21 June 2012 concerning a…

Lord Chief Justice voices concern over increase in litigants in person

Lord Judge has raised his concerns over the increasing number of litigants in person appearing in the courts.  The number of litigants in person has risen significantly in the last year and is expected to increase further following the implementation of reforms to the costs and legal aid regimes in April 2013. speaking at a press briefing Lord Judge said, “The judge has to help one…