Take 10 #3

Welcome to RPC's media and communications law update. This issue reports on key media developments and the latest cases.

News items

Apology not defamatory 

 Nicklin J ruled in Burleigh v Telegraph Media Group that an apology published in the Daily Telegraph was not defamatory of the journalist who wrote the underlying article. Read more

Determination of compensation 

HHJ Lewis handed down judgment in the determination of compensation following the acceptance of a qualified offer of amends following the Sunday Mirror and Kent Live's incorrect reporting that the Teaching Regulation Authority had found that the Claimant was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct. Read more

Ex-doctor harassing judge found in contempt of court 

Mr Justice Nicklin has found a former doctor in contempt of court for breaching injunctions imposed on him to prevent him from harassing a circuit judge. Javed Shaikh harassed HHJ Oliver through the website Judges Behaving Badly and made allegations of criminality against HHJ Oliver and his sons.  Read more

International Data Transfers and the DPA

The divisional court handed down a decision about the provision of data by the Home Secretary to the United States Government under the Mutual Legal Assistance scheme. The requested material related to the Claimant's son, Mr El Sheikh, a former British citizen who is being investigated for involvement in a terrorist fighter group known as the "Beatles". Read more

Strike out application on domicile rule dismissed 

Julian Knowles J dismissed an application to strike out a libel claim where the Defendant argued that there are no reasonable grounds for bringing the claim as he was not domiciled in the UK at the time of publication. Read more

Chatter

'Cyberflashing'

The Law Commission has proposed reforms to the Malicious Communications Act 1988 and Communications Act 2003 to adapt to contemporary online behaviour. Read more

Class actions on the rise 

Likely encouraged by Court of Appeal’s decision in Lloyd v Google, class actions gained momentum in the summer and two were launched; one related to ad tech and another in response to a data breach. Read more

Duchess of Sussex

A CMC took place in the case between the Duchess of Sussex and Associated Newspapers this week.  Read more

Diversity is OK

Having received around 24,500 complaints about dance troupe, Diversity's Black Lives Matter-inspired performance on Britain's Got Talent, Ofcom has announced that it will not investigate further. The complaints included that the performance was politically biased, and racist towards white people. Read more

Carole Baskin

All you cool cats and kittens may be shocked to learn that Carole Baskin is being sued for defamation by her former assistant following allegations in a video diary posted on YouTube that the assistant played a role in Don Lewis, Baskin's former husband's death. Read more

Quote of the fortnight:

"It's endlessly fascinating to me how the tumult of the world can be made comprehensible by the orderly calibration of values within the discipline of the printed page" – Harold Evans, former editor of The Sunday Times who died at the age of 92 this week.