Cases

Berezovsky & Another v Forbes Inc & Another (No.2)

Held

Dismissing the appeal: (1) It was not necessary for the rules of meaning and justification to be reviewed. Article 10 concerns could, in an appropriate case, be accommodated within the defences of fair comment and/or Reynolds qualified privilege. To require a defendant, albeit a serious and reputable publisher, to be able to justify not a diminished version of a damaging assault on a claimant's reputation but the essence or substance or sting of that assault was not a disproportionate invasion of the right of free expression but met the legitimate purpose of protecting people from the publication of damaging and unjustified falsehoods. (2) The approach when determining the range of meanings that any publication can bear is an exercise in generosity not parsimony. If the analysis is performed fairly in accordance with the authorities the judgment of the Judge will not be second-guessed by the Court of Appeal.

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