Month: March 2025

28.03.25

Guido Fawkes owner pays Dale Vince defamation damages and costs

Paul Staines, the founder, owner, and erstwhile editor of the political blog Guido Fawkes has settled libel proceedings brought against him by Dale Vince. On 13 and 14 March 2024, Mr Staines published articles on his Guido Fawkes blog falsely accusing Mr Vince of having expressed support for Hamas during a Times Radio interview.  Mr…

14.03.25

The Law Commission consultation on criminal appeals reform

The Law Commission opened a consultation recently on potential reforms to the system relating to criminal appeals. The Law Commission was asked by the previous Government to review the law relating to criminal appeals following recent criticism of the criminal appeals process. This has involved high-profile miscarriages of justice including the Post Office Horizon scandal…

Civil litigation FAQs: summary judgment

What is summary judgment? The summary judgment process is the means by which the court can determine liability at an early stage in proceedings without costing the parties the time and expense involved in proceeding to a full trial. Either party can make an application for summary judgment or a court can list a hearing…

12.03.25

Ofcom publishes draft guidance on safeguarding women and girls from online harms

The Online Safety Act 2023 (the “Act”) established a regulatory framework for online service providers (defined under the Act to include technology companies such as dating apps, search engines, social media platforms and pornography platforms) to address illegal content and protect users from online harms (see our blog post here). The Act stipulated that Ofcom,…

10.03.25

Law firm fails to prove former client is behind defamatory Google reviews

Negative reviews posted on a Google Business Profile have become a scourge for many business owners.  Google is often reluctant to remove such reviews – even where they are highly defamatory and false – and the author can seek to avoid liability by posting under a pseudonym.   If the author can be identified, they can…

7.03.25

Meta facing damages claim for failing to properly respond to Facebook complaint

In AB v Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd [2025] NIMaster 2 the Northern Ireland High Court granted permission for proceedings to be served on the defendant tech giant out of the jurisdiction.  The claim relates to Meta’s alleged delay in removing content published on a Facebook page that sought to vilify the anonymous plaintiff AB. AB…

5.03.25

High Court delivers meaning judgment in libel claim by journalist John Ware against Roger Waters and Al Jazeera

Roger Waters is renowned as co-founder of the British progressive rock group Pink Floyd, whose albums The Dark Side of the Moon, and The Wall are among the best-selling of all time.  Since leaving the band in 1985, Waters has consistently toured as a solo artist, continuing to play Pink Floyd material as well as…