News: Frankie Boyle wins £54,650 in Mirror libel action

The comedian Frankie Boyle was, today, successful in his action for libel against MGN, the publishers of the “Daily Mirror”.   He was awarded damages in the total sum of £54,650.  The trial began last Monday, 15 October 2012, before Mr Justice Eady and a jury in Court 13 of the Royal Courts of Justice in London.  We had a short report on the trial on Saturday.

Inforrm Debate: Abolition of Libel Juries – The Poll

Over the last few weeks we have published a number of posts about the right to jury trial in libel cases.  At present, clause 11 of the Defamation Bill removes the right to jury trial in cases of libel and slander.  This will, in practice, mean that libel cases, in the future, will always be tried by judge alone.

Inforrm Debate: Jury trial in libel actions: the plaything of civil liberty purists! – Alastair Brett

Defamation is a rich man’s sport.  Only the super-rich or those on “no win, no fee” agreements with their lawyers can begin to afford the astronomic cost of a libel action.  Why? Because there are too many uncertainties in defamation actions.  First and foremost amongst these is ‘trial by jury’, a quite extraordinary hang-over from the past, which in too many cases bears little or no resemblance to justice.