Cases

Vassiliev v Frank Cass & Co Ltd

Facts

The Claimant co-wrote a book based to a large extent on research carried out by the Claimant on "top secret" KGB documents. A theme of the book was that Alger Hiss had been a Soviet spy during World War II. The Defendant published an article by a long-term friend and supporter of Alger Hiss, including a passage stating that the KGB materials published in the Claimant's book offered "no credible support" for the proposition that Hiss was a spy. At trial the jury agreed that the article was defamatory of the Claimant. The Defendants relied on qualified privilige on th grounds of: (1) common interest; (2) reply to attack, and; (3) Reynolds.

Also