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International Edition

The libel survivor - what it's like to be faced with a gruelling libel claim

Between 2007 and 2011 I was embroiled in what has become one of the most controversial libel cases in recent history. The claimant in my case wasn't a Russian oligarch, an A-list celebrity or an Arab billionaire (groups who seem to issue writs like they are going out of fashion) but a seemingly innocuous super-wealthy self-styled 'holy man' from the Punjab (a state in Northern India) who is reported never to have stepped foot in Britain nor apparently reads, writes or speaks any English. He went by the grandiose title His Holiness Sant Baba Jeet Singh ji Maharaj.
8 minute read

International Edition

Online defamation cases 'double', defamation claims decline by 47%

There have been a number of recent reports based on some research by Sweet & Maxwell into defamation cases. The Guardian headline is Rise in defamation cases involving blogs and Twitter while The Independent tells readers Online libel cases double. This does not give the full picture.
3 minute read

International Edition

MP's 'super-injunction victim' named as sex abuse fabricator

On 26 April 2011, on a point of order but in apparent breach of a High Court injunction, Mr John Hemming MP claimed that Vicky Haigh, a horse trainer and former jockey, "was the subject of an attempt by Doncaster council to imprison her for speaking at a meeting in Parliament". A number of Twitter accounts subsequently disclosed that the injunction had been granted in family proceedings in which Ms Haigh had claimed that her former partner, David Tune, was a paedophile who had abused their daughter for some years.
6 minute read

International Edition

Thornton v Telegraph Media - libel, malice and a failed 'offer of amends' defence

On 26 July 2011 Mr Justice Tugendhat handed down a reserved judgment after the trial in Thornton v Telegraph Media Group. The claimant was successful and a total award of damages for libel and malicious falsehood of £65,000 was made. The case is notable for a number of firsts. It is first libel trial of the year and the first one involving the publisher of a national newspaper since the Mo George case in April 2009. It is the first case in which an "offer of amends" defence has been overturned by a finding of malice. Finally, the case also appears to be the first in which a court has awarded general damages for malicious falsehood.
11 minute read

International Edition

BLP partner files claim against News of the World for phone-hacking

Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) corporate and commercial disputes partner Graham Shear has launched a claim against the News of the World (NoW) for phone-hacking. Shear has appointed fellow BLP commercial litigator Joby Davies to advise him on the breach of privacy claim against NoW, as well as Matrix Chambers' Hugh Tomlinson QC and David Sherborne of 5RB.
2 minute read

International Edition

The Screws no more – how dumb does that privacy 'debate' look now?

While I make no pretence to be an authority on the tabloid media, the escalating events of this week that culminated in the shock closure of the News of the World (NoW) do say much about an area I know a little more about: the collision between the law and media. This has been building for a long, long time. Though they were largely ignored by much of Fleet Street, the initial allegations regarding the NoW date back years and it was two years ago that The Guardian first made credible claims that phone-hacking was taking place at the tabloid on an industrial scale.
5 minute read

International Edition

Sex, secrets and sedition: the aftermath of Parliament challenging courts on privacy

Carter-Ruck's Athalie Matthews analyses the 'Hemming effect' as the controversy over injunctions rages on
5 minute read

International Edition

The CTB injunction - who is to blame for making a mockery of the rule of law?

It may now be safe to say that the superinjunction media frenzy has largely passed. But fresh from the ruins of the CTB injunction, the blame game is well underway. Who is responsible for making a mockery of the rule of law and rendering privacy rights ridiculous? Who is responsible for seeking to extend privacy rights past their tipping point? Deciding who the culprits are depends very much upon your viewpoint and I am sure that there are those not in this list that you would wish to include. Lawful contributions are welcome. Below is a line-up of some of the usual suspects and the charges being levelled at them:
8 minute read

International Edition

Through the looking glass - the strange morality of Planet Injunction

As we march into a secular age, society is getting oddly moralistic. Certainly, to judge from the extraordinary and sustained controversy over injunctions, the whole idea of the guy with a spotless past getting to throw the first rock is now dead and buried. And so the mounting storm over privacy law – far from being calmed by the long-awaited publication of the Neuberger report on Friday – rumbled on over the weekend, culminating on Monday, after yet another day of developments, court hearings and outpourings on Twitter, in an MP using Parliamentary privilege to flout a court order.
3 minute read

International Edition

Superinjunction report offers concessions and reassurance but fails to calm privacy storm

The committee charged with reviewing the use of superinjunctions has called for the media to have advance notice of privacy orders and for the Government to monitor the use of injunctions. Pulling back from recommending major changes in its 100-page report, the committee chaired by the Master of the Rolls Lord Neuberger has argued that the current regime for granting injunctions is working effectively.
5 minute read

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