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Libel and slander—Fair comment—Elements of defence

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09 December 2010
Issue: 7445 / Categories: Case law , Law reports
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Joseph and others v Spiller and another [2010] UKSC 53, [2010] All ER (D) 16 (Dec)

Libel and slander—Fair comment—Elements of defence

Joseph and others v Spiller and another [2010] UKSC 53, [2010] All ER (D) 16 (Dec)

Supreme Court, Lord Phillips P, Lord Rodger, Lord Walker, Lord Brown and Sir John Dyson SCJJ, 1 December 2010

Lord Nicholls’s fourth proposition in Albert v Tse Wai Chun Paul (Final appeal (civil) no 12 of 2000), (2000) 10 BHRC 525 should be rewritten as “the comment must explicitly or implicitly indicate, at least in general terms, the facts on which it is based”. Moreover, the defence of fair comment should be renamed “honest comment”.

William Bennett (instructed by Howard Kennedy) for the claimants. Paul Epstein QC and David Price (instructed by David Price Solicitors & Advocates) for the defendants.

The claimants were members of a musical group known as ‘The Gillettes’ or ‘Saturday Night at the Movies’. The defendants provided entertainment booking services. The claimants appointed the defendants to promote their performances. The parties

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