Subjects:

Libel and Slander, Common Law Library

Contents:

Part One: The Defamatory Statement

Introduction

Defamatory Imputations

The Form and Meaning of the Defamatory Statement

Slanders Actionable Per Se

Slanders Actionable Only on Proof of Special Damage

Publication

Identity of the Person Defamed

Parties: Who May Sue or Be Sued

Remedies

Part Two: Defences

Defences: General Justification (Truth)

Fair Comment

Absolute Privilege

Qualified Privilege at Common Law I: Limited Publication

Qualified Privilege at Common Law II –

Reports and Reynolds v Times Newspapers

Qualified Privilege: Statute

Malice and Qualified Privilege

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974

Other Defences

Part Three: Other Causes of Action and related Matters

Scope of this Part

Malicious Falsehood

Misuse of Personal Information and Breach of Confidence

Other Causes of Action arising from Statements

Criminal Libel

The European Convention on Human Rights and Defamation and Privacy

Part Four: The Action

The Initial Stages

Interim Injunctions

Gatley is the leading text on libel and slander. This new edition will keep practitioners up to date with the latest developments in the law of defamation, both substantive and procedural. It analyses the relevant case law, and guides the reader through practice and procedure in detail.

The new 11th edition incorporates the latest case law, explains new procedures and tracks the developing law in areas such as press freedom to report on matters of public interest. Discussion of recent judgments includes Purnell v Business F1 Magazine Ltd and Another, McKennitt v Ash and Jameel and others v Wall Street Journal Europe.

• Provides an all-encompassing guide to the law of defamation
• Analyses the substantive law and discusses a wealth of significant recent case law
• Includes cases from other jurisdictions with commentary on their relevance to UK law and procedure, in particular decisions from Canada, Australia and New Zealand
• Discusses the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the continuing effect of the Human Rights Act on defamation law
• Deals with defences and related causes of action such as criminal libel
• Includes forms and precedents for issuing proceedings, statements of case and settlements
• Reproduces key legislation
• Includes summaries of important libel awards in the appendix material
• Updates the reader with regular supplements

• Jameel v Wall Street Journal Europe: This decision of the House of Lords is certainly the most important case since Reynolds v Times Newspapers on qualified privilege and all earlier cases on Reynolds must be read subject to it.
• Charman v Orion Publishing: This Court of Appeal decision is the most important of a number of cases examining how far the law protects “reportage” or “neutral reporting”.
• Adelson v Associated Newspapers is another significant case on abuse of the process and proportionality in defamation proceedings.
• Bunt v Tilley: the meaning of publication at common law and under the Defamation Act 1996 and the Electronic Commerce (EC) Directive Regulations 2002. Al Amoudi v Brisard, looks at the issue of the publication of defamatory material via the Internet.
• Culnane v Morris looks at the issue of political campaigning and defamation.
• Lowe v Associated Newspapers, Burstein v Associated Newspapers: two important decisions on fair comment.
• Buckley v Dalziel, Westcott v Westcott concern absolute privilege in the context of complaints to the police.
• The offer of amends procedure and defence under the Defamation Act 1996 has been clarified in a number of cases such as the Court of Appeal decisions in Milne v Express Newspapers, Nail v News Group and Turner v News Group. Warren v Random House is a significant first instance decision.
• Misuse of personal information Among the many new decisions considered in the text are Campbell v MGN, Von Hannover v Germany, Douglas v Hello! (No.3), McKennitt v Ash, Murray v Big Pictures (UK), HRH The Prince of Wales v Associated and Lord Browne v Associated Newspapers.

  Gatley on Libel and Slander, though based on English law, continues to trace developments in other common law jurisdictions. Among many developments noted are the uniform Acts passed by the Australian states in 2005 and 2006. The Irish Defamation Bill is noted and may be passed before publication.