This is the second part of a three part post dealing with the key libel cases over the last twelve months or so in England and Wales. Part 1 was posted on 29 March 2011.
The fiction at the heart of defamation claims: the “single meaning rule”
In order to work out whether a publication is defamatory, it is necessary to work out what it means. The world of defamation is run on the basis of the “single meaning rule”: Read the rest of this entry »
Recent "Privacy" Statement in Open Court
The 55th Update to the Civil Procedure Rules, which comes into force on 6 April 2011 makes an important change to the provisions relating to “statements in open court”. At present, the right to apply to make such a statement before or after the acceptance of a Part 36 offer or other offer to settle is only available in when a party in relation to a claims for libel and slander (PD 53, para 6.1). Under the amended practice direction two further subparagraphs are added to cover malicious falsehood and privacy claims (see the PD Update document).
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