Cases

Al-Fagih v HH Saudi Research & Marketing

Facts

This was an appeal by the defendant newspaper from the finding of Smith J at the trial on liability that the publication of an article containing material which was admitted to be defamatory of the Claimant was not protected by qualified privilege under Reynolds. The Claimant was a prominent member of a Saudi Arabian dissident political organisation based in the UK. The words complained of comprised an allegation made by one of the Claimant's political opponents ("M") to the effect that the Claimant had spread malicious rumours about M and had said that M's mother procured women for M in his home. The Defendant pleaded qualified privilege, arguing before the Judge in favour of a privilege that was a variant on Reynolds. The Judge ruled that, in failing to verify the truth of M's allegations, D had departed from the standards of responsible journalism and had impliedly represented that the allegations were true. It followed that a defence of qualified privilege failed.

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