Inforrm's Blog

Hot on the heels of McKillen v Misland (Cyprus) Investments Limited [2012] EWHC 1158 (Ch) (26 April 2012), about which I blogged in my previous post, the ever-wonderful Stare Decisis Hibernia blog draws attention to a 2010 open justice case in the Irish High Court. In In re Skytours Travel Ltd, Doyl

An order for trial by judge alone has been made in the libel claim brought by solicitor Mark Lewis against the Metropolitan Police arising out of an email which, it is alleged, accuses him of lying to the Select Committee.  In a judgment handed down today (Lewis v Commissioner of Police (No.2) [2012

Andrew Gunston was a policeman in Tasmania, having joined the Force in 1982. On the night of 12 October 2001, while off duty, he went to the Queenstown’s Empire Hotel for a drink. Or a few drinks. And a game of pool. And a meeting with a lady who he had known for some months. [...]

An opinion poll commissioned by the think tank IPPR suggests that more than 60% of the public now favour statutory regulation of the press.  A total of 94% of those favouring regulation (77% of the sample) thought the regulation should be “fairly strict” or “very strict”. However, only 38% were conf

Media groups in Northern Ireland have welcomed two recent High Court decisions relating to an application by a newspaper to set aside an anonymity order.  The application was brought by Sunday Newspapers Limited to review and to set aside an anonymity order initially granted in 2008 to the present r

An unusual action for libel based on a cartoon depicting two politicians was dismissed on 10 May 2012 by the Royal Court of Jersey.  Sir Charles Gray, sitting as a Commissioner, with two Jurats (of which, more later), entered judgment for the plaintiffs on the basis that the cartoon was not defamato

This has been a challenging year for the media in Australia, with traditional business models thrown into turmoil by new media platforms. There was little cheer for the media on the legal side, either. While there were not too many defamation claims that went to judgment in the last 12 months, the m

On 16 May 2012 the Senior Costs Judge gave judgment in a defamation case that has important implications for the future management of costs in defamation cases – and, quite possibly, costs budgeting schemes generally: Sylvia Henry v News Group Newspapers ([2012] EWHC 90218 (Costs)). It is an unfortu

It has been announced by the Speaker that MPs will debate the findings of the Select Committee Report into phone hacking “at the beginning of public business” tomorrow (Tuesday 22 May 2012).  In other words, the debate will take place after question time and any statements to the House. In a short s

Module three of the Leveson Inquiry is now underway, examining the relationship between press and politicians. Jack Straw, Lord Wakeham, Alastair Campbell and Sir Harold Evans were among the witnesses during the Inquiry’s 19th week, as Natalie Peck summarised here. Meanwhile, separate to the Inquiry