Privacy, Harassment and Defamation Injunctions

Injunctions are not granted lightly by the courts. They are draconian measures. Anyone seeking an injunction needs to:-

a. Have a good legal claim (e.g. for the misuse of private information, breach of confidence, breach of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (‘UK GDPR’)/Data Protection Act 2018, harassment, defamation and/or malicious falsehood).

b. Be able to persuade the court that an injunction is necessary to prevent further wrongdoing (and/or is required to remedy wrongdoing)

c. Be in a position to fund a claim (i.e. pay their lawyers) through to trial, with a significant amount frontloaded if an interim injunction is sought. Typically, at least £20,000-30,000 will be needed immediately.  Claims that go all the way to trial will likely cost in excess of £150,000 plus vat.

d. Be sure that the defendant will be able to pay any costs order or accept that they may not recover their legal costs

Unfortunately, a civil injunction is not a “standalone remedy”. You still need to sue the defendant.  The exception to this is if you have been in a close relationship and/or lived with the defendant.  In these limited circumstances, you might be able to seek a ‘non-molestation order’ in the Family Court (for example where threats have been made against you).  These proceedings are less formal, quicker and normally significantly cheaper.  In all other instances you need to bring substantive proceedings.

Cases will often settle when an interim injunction is granted (or default judgment can be obtained if the defendant does not engage in the proceedings), but this can never be assumed. The cost of taking a claim to trial can be considerable and if you lose or abandon a claim you will also normally be ordered to pay your opponent’s legal costs. Thus, seeking an injunction involves serious financial commitment and some financial risk. It is certainly not a course of action which should be taken on a whim or out of principle alone.

An interim injunction is a temporary injunction that (ordinarily) stays in force to trial (normally around 12-18 months after a claim has been issued). If the claim succeeds at trial the court can grant a permanent injunction. A permanent injunction cannot be granted unless/until the claim succeeds.

Interim injunctions for pure defamation claims are very rare as “the law of prior restraint” normally prohibits them where a respondent intends to defend a claim at trial.

In all cases the court will need to be satisfied there is a good arguable claim and an injunction is necessary. In publication cases, the Court needs to be satisfied that an injunction would likely be granted following trial. In harassment cases, the Court determines where the “balance of convenience” lies: by weighing up the likely damage to the applicant if an injunction is not granted, as against the inconvenience to the Respondent if it is.

An injunction is a discretionary remedy, with the judge deciding whether one is appropriate or not.  Where there has been delay in seeking an interim injunction this may be a ground for refusal.

Yes, depending on the circumstances. The Civil Procedure Rules normally requires three “clear days” notice to be given to the defendant. This is to allow them time to prepare their defence and instruct lawyers. However, if the matter is urgent an interim injunction can be sought on a ‘without notice’ or ‘ex parte’ basis, sometimes even outside normal working hours or at the weekend. This might be the case where publication or disclosure is imminent, e.g. if something is going to be published in the Sunday papers. With an urgent injunction, there will always be a second hearing a week or so later (a ‘return date’) so the court can decide whether the interim injunction should stay in force after the respondent has had a chance to seek legal advice.

Urgent injunction applications are quite rare in practice.  The Court will be unimpressed if the application is not genuinely urgent and is likely to dismiss it.

The cost will depend on the factual and legal complexity of the case, the seniority of counsel instructed and whether the injunction is sought on an urgent basis or not. We require a minimum payment of £10,000 on client account before undertaking any work on an interim injunction or £15,000 on an urgent interim injunction (which will require two hearings).

As above, an interim injunction is not a standalone remedy and the final cost of the litigation could be significantly higher.

Media law is a specialist area of law. Our media law and communications department exclusively undertakes this work and our solicitors are experienced in dealing with injunction applications. These applications require court papers and complex legal arguments to be prepared in short order. We will take your instructions and work with you to ensure your evidence is prepared effectively, to give you the best chance of obtaining the injunction.

Our work is of the highest standard.  Every case we handle is run by a specialist media law solicitor with strategic input from a partner. As well as being listed in the prestigious Times Best Law Firms, Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners directories as a leading firm in the fields of defamation, privacy and reputation management law, partners Iain Wilson, Max Campbell and Tom Double are all individually recognised as leading individuals.  Iain Wilson and Max Campbell are additionally recommended by the Spear’s 500 HNWI directory for their reputation management work.  Iain Wilson is also recommended in the Tatler Address Book.  Most importantly, the firm receives excellent feedback from its clients and contemporaries.

Yes, we have extensive experience representing defendants facing injunction applications or who are the subject of injunctions. If you have been served with papers we strongly recommend that you contact us immediately – and normally prior to contacting the claimant’s solicitors. If time permits, keep your powder dry; don’t play lawyer.

We normally have specialist media law solicitors available at short notice to deal with prospective injunction applications.  If you are seeking an urgent injunction and are in a position to retain the firm please call 020 7183 8950 and ask to speak with a media law solicitor.

Not all cases warrant an interim injunction or the costs/risks are prohibitive. There may be other options available to you: for example, we can seek to negotiate an out of court settlement by agreeing contractual undertakings.

In most instances we offer fixed fee consultations to review papers, take instructions and advise you on options. These are extremely popular with clients who are unsure what, if any, legal action to take – as well as defendants facing an injunction application.