Jaffa Law - Updates

Most of our column inches are normally filled with discussions of libel, breach of privacy, data protection, and perhaps the odd regulatory matter.  However, unusually, this week the spotlight turns to a lesser known topic: malicious falsehood. Whilst malicious falsehood – which is a tort created by ...

Gary Neville, social media, & contempt of court

06/09/2022

Readers will know that the Ryan Giggs’ Crown Court  trial came to an inconclusive end last week, because the jury could not reach a verdict.  The jurors were discharged, and a decision about a re-trial is awaited.  Shortly afterwards, it emerged (as journalists like ...

Are Northern Ireland's libel reforms enough?

23/08/2022

After much anticipation, the new Defamation Act 2022 has come into force in Northern Ireland. The stark differences between libel law in England & Wales and that in N. Ireland have long been a source of difficulty for publishers, especially those with titles in both legal jurisdictions.  Since ...

Vardy v. Rooney - another victory for the truth defence

09/08/2022

For the second time in the space of less than two years, we have seen a high profile libel claim in the courts of England and Wales defended successfully on the basis that the allegation that was published was substantially true.  Of course, the first was the ...

Government publishes proposals to end ‘SLAPP’ litigation

26/07/2022

One consequence of the sanctioning of oligarchs following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has been to bring SLAPP litigation (the acronym for ‘Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation’) to the forefront of policy makers’ thinking. SLAPPs have long been a problem for publishers, whose legal ...

Prince Harry establishes defamatory meaning – but there’s still a long way ...

12/07/2022

Following a preliminary hearing back in June, the judgment on preliminary issues has now been handed down in the case of The Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, against Associated Newspapers Limited, the publisher of the Mail on Sunday and Mail Online. The case came about following the Mail&...

Banks v. Cadwalladr is welcome victory for public interest journalism

21/06/2022

Amongst the recent glut of high-profile libel cases comes a decision celebrated by both publishers and lawyers alike. The case of Arron Banks v. Carole Cadwalladr, now dubbed a “victory for public interest journalism,” began in April 2019 when Ms. Cadwalladr gave a TED talk entitled “...

Libel - trial by jury or judge alone?

09/06/2022

Jury trials in libel cases in England & Wales are very much a thing of the past - it is believed the last one was Frankie Boyle v the Daily Mirror back in 2012. However, a recent case involving the actor and political activist, Laurence Fox seems to have ...

Jigsaw ID revisited: the latest guidance from the High Court

24/05/2022

Last week, the Attorney General obtained an injunction against the BBC which prevented the broadcaster from identifying an MI5 source, Mr. X, who allegedly has been guilty of domestic violence for some considerable time. The decision of Mr Justice Chamberlain not to allow Mr. X to be identified ...

Police officer facing criminal trial fails in bid for anonymity

10/05/2022

Last week, a Metropolitan Police Officer, Imran Mahmood, was named as the officer facing prosecution for grievous bodily harm after a man was paralysed following discharge of the officer’s taser.  Mr Mahmood was named following an unsuccessful attempt by him to be granted anonymity on ...

IPSO issues new social media guidance

27/04/2022

It looks as though it’s been a busy time at IPSO HQ. Following the guidance issued on court reporting as covered by my colleague in a recent law column, last week saw the publication of further new guidance, this time concerning social media. Though there have ...

Journalist succeeds in preventing disclosure of sources

05/04/2022

Guidance from the Courts concerning the disclosure of journalists’ sources are few and far between, so a recent case in which West Midlands Police (WMP) applied for a production order against journalist and former MP Chris Mullin is noteworthy – after all, as journalists are acutely aware, ...

IPSO releases court reporting guidance

24/03/2022

We all know that the Editors’ Code of Conduct addresses aspects of court reporting – in its clauses relating to ‘Reporting of Crime’ and ‘Victims of Sexual Assault’ for example. But IPSO has now released additional guidance entitled ‘Guidance on Court Reporting&...

Newsquest’s court battle to name police officer dismissed for gross misconduct

09/03/2022

An important decision from the High Court concerning open justice has now been released. And bearing in mind the widespread public concern about police misconduct, it could not be more topical. First, a little background. In April last year, PC Terry Cooke was dismissed from Hampshire Police for ...

ZXC v Bloomberg: Concerns for journalists after suspect privacy ruling

23/02/2022

Last week, in one of the most important rulings for media law for years, the Supreme Court delivered its judgment in ZXC V. Bloomberg.  This decision built on the landmark privacy ruling in Cliff Richard’s case against the BBC, and it confirms the principle that ...

Stalking, and the tricky issue of identifying the victim

09/02/2022

One month into the new year and whilst journalists (and their lawyers!) remain very busy, it’s been a relatively quiet time in terms of big, newsworthy, decisions from the Courts.  But fear not: an interesting point has caught our attention, so this week, we are ...

Reporting the Family Court: two important developments mark the new drive to ...

20/01/2022

A decision made in the Family Division of the High Court, upheld by the Court of Appeal at the end of last year (Griffiths v. Tickle) has provided a useful insight into the approach of the courts to determine how much, if any, of a case involving children ...

Countdown’s Rachel Riley wins libel claim, but “provocation” cuts damages

05/01/2022

It was a good end to 2021 for Rachel Riley of Countdown fame, as judgment was handed down in her favour in the libel case she brought against Laura Murray.  Ms. Riley is an outspoken critic of, and campaigner against, antisemitism in the Labour Party, and at 18.16 on 3...

What does the Meghan ruling mean for publishers?

14/12/2021

I rather suspect that all this column’s readers are already aware of the recent decision of the Court of Appeal, in the claim brought by the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, against Associated Newspapers for breach of her privacy rights and infringement of copyright. ...

'Survivors Against Terror' calls for new code for reporting attacks

11/11/2021

A new report published by Survivors Against Terror has suggested the introduction of new rules to govern how journalists can report terror attacks. The group, made up of survivors of terrorism and the families of victims say that the changes are necessary to prevent further distress being caused ...

Can there ever be safety in numbers when it comes to libel?

28/10/2021

When defending a libel claim, it’s a given that a defendant will try to mitigate the damage a publication might have caused by any means possible, but what relevance do other similar publications have? Can they assist a publisher in defending the case? When it comes ...

Libel Reform in Northern Ireland: a step closer?

13/10/2021

Reforming libel law in Northern Ireland has been a painfully slow process over the years, but following an Assembly debate a few weeks ago, the possibility of modernisation is not quite as remote as it once appeared. Reforming this particular area of law is a devolved matter for ...

The Summer of Privacy

15/09/2021

The Summer is always a fallow time when it comes to legal developments.  The Courts are running at reduced capacity, the Judges and lawyers are away, and traditionally, it’s the silly season for news - though in the era of Covid, that’s definitely ...

One-all at half-time in Mike Ashley v Times Newspapers Ltd

18/08/2021

A preliminary issue decision out of the High Court last month in the case of retail magnate and Premier League football club owner Mike Ashley and Times Newspapers Limited has given an interesting insight into the effect of the often-misunderstood “repetition rule” in determining the meaning ...

Tommy Robinson’s truth defence fails, and comes with a hefty price ...

04/08/2021

Last week saw judgment handed down in the libel claim brought by schoolboy Jamal Hijazi against Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who is widely known as Tommy Robinson, the right-wing political activist.The case was brought by Syrian born Mr Hijazi as a result of Yaxley-Lennon publishing two videos online.  ...

The Right to be Forgotten: new impetus from the European Court of ...

21/07/2021

In a judgment involving a French-language newspaper based in Belgium, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has raised the possibility of the right to be forgotten being extended from internet searches to day-to-day online news publishing. For many people, the European Court of Human Rights is a ...

Bruno Lachaux and the Public Interest defence

07/07/2021

Bruno Lachaux is someone that none of us is ever likely to meet, but as someone who has had an enormous influence on UK libel law in the last few years, he’s not a person any journalist or media lawyer is likely to forget. Some seven ...

TV doctor’s libellous Tweet results in £125k damages award

22/06/2021

Christian Jessen, who is well-known for presenting Channel 4’s Embarrassing Bodies, was recently ordered to pay Arlene Foster £125,000 in libel damages, plus legal costs, because of a tweet which he published in December 2019. Jessen tweeted that Mrs. Foster, who was then Northern Ireland’s First ...

Victory for the media over a Defendant's right to privacy

08/06/2021

It has been quite a while since we have written about a judgment by the Court of Appeal in relation to a reporting restriction, but the recent case concerning Babita Rai provides a useful recap of the relevant principles, and an insight into the competing principles of open ...

Brush up on your grammar – it’s the law!

25/05/2021

The great Irish playwright, critic, polemicist, political activist, and Nobel Prize winner, George Bernard Shaw, had little time for the rules of grammar, and certainly had no love for the apostrophe.  But some of us beg to differ, and last week, a High Court judge agreed that ...

Meghan Markle’s latest court win and the rise of multi-faceted claims

11/05/2021

Last week saw the latest development in the Duchess of Sussex’s case against the publisher of the Mail and Mail on Sunday, Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), with the Duchess winning the copyright element of the claim. The Duchess of Sussex’s claim is for breach ...

Corbyn loses libel case appeal - statements were fact and not opinion

27/04/2021

The line between statements of fact and opinion can be a fine one. And what about the threshold for a statement to be considered defamatory at common law? The Court of Appeal judgment in the case of Richard Millett v the Right Honourable Jeremy Corbyn MP provides a ...

Update on access to Family Court documents for journalists

13/04/2021

Back in August 2020, we reported on an application by a journalist, Melanie Newman, for full disclosure of a court file in a family court case relating to the care of M, a child: see Jaffa Law - Access to Family Court documents The child had been removed from ...

Money, money, money - how the Courts calculate libel damages, and why ...

23/03/2021

No-one involved in the news publishing industry needs to be reminded that libel litigation is expensive, whether you win, lose, or settle. The parties in libel claims usually concentrate on the costs of the litigation, partly because of the general rule that the losing party will be responsible ...

IPSO and the regulation of user-generated content

09/03/2021

The issue of user-generated content (UGC), and whether to pre or post moderate it (or leave it well alone in the absence of a complaint), has long been discussed from a legal point of view. However, a recent ruling and subsequent blog post from IPSO has highlighted the ...

What does the Duchess of Sussex’s privacy win mean for journalists?

23/02/2021

Last week judgment was handed down in the case of HRH Duchess of Sussex v Associated Newspapers Limited. The Duchess of Sussex, otherwise known as Meghan Markle, was successful in her application for summary judgment in her privacy and copyright claims (save for one technical point in relation ...

A reminder of contempt laws in age of Covid court hearings

09/02/2021

The BBC was recently fined £28,000 for contempt of court, and although the facts behind the fine are unusual, it serves as a timely reminder that contempt is still a concept that cannot be ignored. Since March last year when the first national lockdown was imposed in response ...

Data protection and the journalism exemption in practice

26/01/2021

Data protection: don’t you just love it?  Thought not, but it can’t be denied that in recent years, data protection law has grown in both relevance and importance for journalists and publishers.  Whilst it has been a legal consideration for years, these ...

83,000 reasons to remember that arrested suspects have right to privacy until charged

12/01/2021

Most readers will have heard of the ZXC and Cliff Richard cases in recent years, and so will be aware that a suspect has the right to privacy from the moment of arrest until they are charged. A recent breach of privacy case, involving a man arrested and ...

Charlie Elphicke - the disgraced ex-MP’s contribution to open justice

15/12/2020

Readers will be familiar with the prosecution and conviction of the disgraced ex-MP Charlie Elphicke.  Back in September, he was convicted of three sexual assaults on two younger women, and is now serving a two-year prison sentence. Following the sentencing hearing, The Times, the Mail, and the ...

Privacy, photographs, and the European Court of Human Rights

01/12/2020

We know the phrase “do they have a reasonable expectation of privacy?” all too well. And there’s been a recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) which is a helpful reminder of the principles relating to Article 8, colloquially known as ‘...

Subs’ Delight: a Tale of Two Captions

24/11/2020

I have always admired sub-editors, at least from afar.  As well as making sure the story fits on the printed page, they have the tricky job of writing headlines and picture captions.  I find it a real challenge to encapsulate a story into a few words, ...

Depp v NGN and Dan Wootton – Truth defence prevails

05/11/2020

It seems like a long time since the libel trial of the decade (between Johnny Depp, News Group Newspapers Ltd, and the Sun’s Executive Editor Dan Wootton) filled endless newspaper pages and social media feeds back in July. And now we have the Judgment, which comes ...

“Extreme left”-Fact or opinion according to IPSO?

20/10/2020

Having said recently that we rarely write about IPSO decisions in our fortnightly column, here is a second one in as many months! Whilst IPSO adjudications are more regulatory rather than legal, they are still very important to the readers of this column and the landscape in which ...

Is calling out “covidiots” worth the legal risk?

06/10/2020

I am sure that everyone in the country has come across the term ‘covidiot’ since the start of the pandemic in March.  The term has been coined to describe anyone who is not adhering to the Covid-19 related guidelines or laws – like those not ...

Section 45 and the defendant’s use of social media

22/09/2020

As we all know, s.45 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 (“the Act”) gives a court the power to impose a reporting restriction in relation to anyone concerned in criminal proceedings if they are under the age of 18. Anyone “concerned” in proceedings ...

Does a request to desist from making contact last indefinitely?

08/09/2020

It is not very often that our articles cover points of regulation rather than law, but an interesting ruling from IPSO has encouraged us to break from the norm… Last month IPSO’s complaints committee adjudicated on a complaint against the Daily Record. The complainant was ...

Access to Family Court documents

25/08/2020

Historically, the Family Court has been viewed as an impenetrable fortress of privacy, and given the sensitive issues that they deal with this is understandable, at least to a certain extent.  However, questions are frequently raised about the strict rules concerning what can and can’t ...

A cautionary tale of innuendo reference for Mr Corbyn

11/08/2020

The most basic of media law lessons would tell you that for a publication to be defamatory, it needs to make reference to the person of whom it is defamatory (among other things). This can be by naming them, picturing them, or giving enough details that the person ...

Does right to privacy trump press freedom on reporting restrictions?

28/07/2020

It is well established that when considering the imposition of non-automatic reporting restrictions, a Judge must carry out a balancing exercise between an applicant’s Article 8 Right to Privacy, and a publisher’s Article 10 Right to Freedom of Expression. The Court has the power to grant ...

No second bite of the cherry

28/07/2020

In an encouraging decision, the High Court has confirmed that it will take a firm stance in situations where it appears that a party to legal proceedings is attempting to relitigate an issue that has already been decided conclusively in a separate case. The judgment concerned a dispute ...

No smoke without fire...

28/07/2020

In recent weeks, a troubling decision for the press has emerged concerning reporting the identities of individuals subject to criminal investigation. It is well established that there is no expectation of privacy in relation to the identity of a person charged with a criminal offence, but up until ...

Pints, Chips, Ice Cream.......and data protection

28/07/2020

Data protection headaches for business owners in the hospitality sector, as lockdown is eased. The reopening of pubs, restaurants, and some other hospitality venues was a great relief for businesses that have suffered during the lockdown.  But to state the obvious, the “new normal” that ...

Limited recording and broadcasting allowed in Crown Courts

15/07/2020

It has long been the case that the Crown Courts’ doors have been shut to cameras of any sort – but the introduction of The Crown Court (Recording and Broadcasting) Order 2020 represents a small but important first step away from that principle. The Order came into force ...

Public interest defence not a tick-box exercise

16/06/2020

Every now and then a decision emerges from the appeal courts which has a significant impact on the day-to-day operation of journalism. In the last couple of weeks, we have seen one such decision handed down from the Supreme Court, the consequences of which are fundamental changes in ...

Court confirms harassment not an easy alternative to libel

26/05/2020

The years since the introduction of the Defamation Act 2013, and the heightened threshold of the serious harm test, have seen a sustained increase in the number of claims pursued under alternative causes of action such as privacy, malicious falsehood, and harassment. In a Judgment handed down last week, ...

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