If Reynolds Has Been Invigorated By Jameel, Why Do Libel Reform Campaigners Insist Upon A Statutory Public Interest Defence?

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

which they had little sympathy. ’
Jameel concerned the Wall Street Journal Europe who published an article implying that Saudi Arabia was cooperating with US intelligence. The article named and described how Saudi businessman Mohammad Jameel was being monitored. Eventually, the House of Lords vocalised a new, less stringent test of the public interest defence which was met with widespread pleasure by the media. The defence was considered in three stages. Firstly, to ascertain the public interest of the material it had to be read as a whole and it was for the judge to decide whether the material was of genuine public interest . If this was in the affirmative, the second consideration was whether it was justifiable to include the defamation in the public interest story. Lastly, were the steps taken to investigate and publish the article fair? To assist, the court can take into consideration the PCC Code of Practice and Lord Nichols’ ten indicia.
I believe that even if Jameel ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

it. This archaic legal presumption that all defamations are false has strengthened the case of libel reform campaigners to introduce a statutory public interest defence.
A significant example of this attitude is Flood v Times Newspapers (2010) The claimant, a Detective Sergeant in the Metropolitan Police, was named by The Times as taking bribes from exiled Russian oligarchs. Not surprisingly (given the attitude of the judges towards allowing the Reynolds public interest defence) the Lordships dismissed The Times appeal against the judge’s finding that the Reynolds privilege had been lost. The journalist had approached the claimant and other persons concerned with the allegations ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library. Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports, and research papers in 2 minutes or less.

CITE THIS PAGE: