Defamation

It seems that not a day goes by without a new defamation case being reported in the media. In today’s world of celebrity and social media, defamation is a prominent and constantly changing area of the law.

The UK is well known for its defamation laws as they are considered to be ‘claimant friendly’. This adds to the variety and frequency of defamation claims, despite defamation litigation being notoriously expensive.

In this blog we follow the latest cases, keeping you up-to-date with changes to the law and the most news-worthy stories.

If you believe you have a defamation claim or are worried that you may be sued for defamation, you should probably get some legal advice from a specialist solicitor. Contact Law can put you in touch with a recommended defamation solicitor free of charge today.

Actor settles libel case

Many celebrities encounter instances in which the media’s coverage of them has tended to hurt their reputation. As such, celebrities who have suffered from intrusive tabloid reports often have recourse to the courts by bringing some form of defamation action. At the end of last week, actor Neil Morrissey accepted a high amount of damages. [...]

Access to justice threatened by Government’s proposal to scrap no-win, no-fee arrangements

The Justice Secretary, Ken Clarke, hopes to limit the availability of no-win, no-fee arrangements through the Government’s Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill. The Bill is receiving its Second Reading in the House of Lords today. Peter Lodder QC, Chairman of the Bar Council, has raised concerns over the implications of the Bill. [...]

Court shuts down solicitors from hell website

Earlier this week, the High Court ordered the owner of the website solicitorsfromhell.co.uk, Rick Kordowski, to shut down the site. The website ‘black listed’ solicitors if they received negative comments on the website’s forum. It has been highly criticised for not being based on genuine information and several defamation suits have been brought against it. [...]

Voluntary libel resolution scheme launched

A new not-for-profit company has been launched this week to encourage parties to libel disputes to use arbitration in order to resolve the claim, instead of the lengthy and costly High Court procedure. Called Early Resolution, the scheme has been put together by Sir Charles Gray, a retired High Court judges, and Alistair Brett, the [...]

Independent newspaper faces legal action from Bahrain over articles

Bahrain is to sue the Independent newspaper over a “defamatory and premeditated media campaign” against the Gulf state and its neighbour, Saudi Arabia. The tiny island kingdom in the Persian Gulf has accused the UK-based paper of one-sided and unprofessional reporting during its coverage of the anti-government protests in February and March 2011.

Twitter user reveals more injunctions despite council’s victory against the site in US

A Twitter user has revealed the details of 14 privacy injunctions on the social media site despite a US court ordering the California-based company to hand over the details of five users to an English local authority. South Tyneside Council took their case to the 9th circuit court in California in order to obtain the [...]

Defamation claims – protecting your reputation

Defamation is where a false statement is made to the public and which ultimately gives a negative impression about a person’s lifestyle or business etc.  Defamation can be committed in two different forms: (More…)

Wealthy financer wins anonymity in libel case

A wealthy financier has won a legal first by being granted anonymity in a libel case. In addition, it is the first that the High Court has granted a superinjunction for a libel case. The financier, known as “Mr Z”, sought the superinjunction to prevent the details of the court proceedings from becoming public. He [...]

Claimant wins first UK Twitter libel claim

A Welsh councillor has been ordered by the High Court in Cardiff to pay £3,000 in damages in what is believed to be the UK’s first libel claim resulting from comments posted on the social media site Twitter. Colin Elsbury, a former town Mayor, accused Eddie Talbot in a Tweet of being evicted from a [...]

Defamation Bill to end ‘libel tourism’

The draft Defamation Bill, which is due to be published today, is intended to reduce ‘libel tourism’ in the courts of England and Wales and provide greater protection for freedom of expression. The planned changes will make it harder for rich individuals to use libel law to challenge the publication of information about them. Under [...]