Cases

Musa King v Telegraph Group Ltd (QBD)

Comment

This case challenged for the first time the propriety of funding defamation litigation on a CFA without ATE insurance where the prospects of success were less than 50%. In such circumstances the defendant has a huge incentive to settle the proceedings for a small sum even where it has good prospects of successfully defending the action. In the particular circumstances of defamation, potential awards of high sums of unrecoverable costs have a chilling effect on the defendant's right to freedom of expression which need to be balanced against the claimant's right of access to court. This case has now been appealed and although the application for security for costs was not pursued, the Court of Appeal has approved a cost-capping arrangement to be used in similar cases in the future to prevent, as far as possible, this abuse from occuring. See [2004] EWCA Civ 613

Areas of work

Defamation
Human Rights
Media Law
Publishing

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