All posts
27.11.18
Doyle v Smith: Blogger’s public interest defence fails
In Doyle v Smith [2018] EWHC 2935 (QB), a parish councillor and blogger/citizen journalist, failed to defend a libel claim on the grounds that publication had been on a matter of public interest. The case is the first example of a blogger seeking to rely on the statutory defence introduced by section 4 of the…
Read more16.05.18
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…
Read more4.05.18
Defamation take-down requests to Google
The Right to be Forgotten has been in the news again recently following the decision in NT1 & NT2 v Google LLC [2018] EWHC 799 (QB) (read our blog on that decision here), but Google will often voluntarily remove content from its search engine results on a variety of other grounds, including that the content…
Read more18.04.18
NT1 and NT2 v Google Inc: How to seek the delisting of search engine results following the first English decision on the “right to be forgotten”
The much-anticipated decision in NT 1 & NT 2 v Google LLC [2018] EWHC 799 (QB) was handed down on 13 April 2018. The joint judgment in two separate claims against Google, is the first time the English courts have had to rule on the application of the ‘right to be forgotten’ principle following the…
Read more15.12.17
Chairman of Oriental Fine Arts Academy of London wins libel claim over embezzlement/corruption slurs
Selvaratnam Suresh, an honorary chairman, trustee and co-founder of the Oriental Fine Arts Academy of London (‘OFAAL’) has succeeded in his libel claim against Abdul Samad, Amirthalingam Nagarajah and Kajananan Sathananthan, after the defendants agreed to retract their allegations, apologise and pay compensation and costs. The first two defendants are parents of pupils at the…
Read more15.09.17
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…
Read more16.03.17
Court orders Katie Hopkins to pay £24,000 in damages in Twitter libel case
The food blogger, journalist and left-wing political activist Jack Monroe has been awarded £24,000 in damages by the High Court following two tweets sent by the MailOnline (and former Sun) columnist Katie Hopkins in May 2015. Factual background On 9 May 2015, two days after the General Election, the words “Fuck Tory Scum” were spray painted on…
Read more2.01.17
Claimants obtain interim injunction preventing disclosure of extramarital affair
In TRK & BVP v ICM [2016] EWHC 2810 Mr Justice Warby granted an interim without notice injunction preventing a spurned lover from disclosing private information obtained from the alleged hacking of his former lover’s computer system. Background As the hearing was ex parte (i.e. made without notice to the Defendant), the judge was reliant solely on evidence advanced…
Read more21.12.16
Libel/Defamation: Libel damages reduced to £10 because of claimant's disgraceful conduct
In Flymenow Ltd v Quick Air Jet Charter GmbH [2016] EWHC 3197 (QB) an aircraft charter company has been awarded nominal damages of £10 in a libel action after it was found that it had acted “disgracefully” before and during the litigation. The Defendant Quick Air Jet Charter GmbH, a German provider of private jets, entered…
Read more1.08.16
Public interest defence successfully deployed at libel trial for first time
The claimant in the case of Economou v De Freitas ([2016] EWHC 1853 (QB)) has lost his libel action against the father of a woman who accused him of rape. The claimant, Alexander Economou, brought the action over statements published in the media between November and December 2014 which he claimed amounted to a “public rubbishing” by the…
Read moreLegal Disclaimer
Articles are intended as an introduction to the topic and do not constitute legal advice.
