Cases

Gaddafi v Telegraph Group Ltd (No.3)

Facts

The claimant, the son of Colonel Gaddafi, brought a libel claim against the defendant over the publication of an article in the Sunday Telegraph not just in England but in several other jurisdictions, including in the US and the Arab world. The defendant contended at the pre-trial review that the legal presumptions of a (good) reputation and damage in favour of a libel claimant were rebuttable and were rebutted in this case. Accordingly, the defendant submitted, the case ought to be struck out as an abuse. Alternatively, the defendant contended that the common law presumption that foreign law was the same as English law, which placed the burden on the defendant to rebut that presumption, was incompatible with Article 10 ECHR. Further, the defendant submitted, the claimant had failed to adduce evidence that the publication was actionable by the law of the other jurisdictions where publication had taken place and so, the claim based on those publications should not go forward.

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