Cases

Berezovsky v Russian State Television & Another

Held

Dismissing the Application:

(1) The Defendant had not satisfied the Court that Pyotr was under state protection. The evidence submitted by the Claimant suggested that this was unlikely; in particular Pyotr's identity had been revealed in two Resolutions issued by the Russian State Prosecutor as recently as March and April 2008.

(2) The Defendant had refused to indicate clearly the defence(s) upon which it wished to rely. It was not possible to evaluate whether and to what extent the defence(s) would be affected by any inability to identify Pyotr. The Defendant could, for example, rely upon s.10 Contempt of Court Act 1981 not to identify the source if it relied on a Reynolds defence.

(3) In the circumstances, the Defendant had not convincingly established any basis on which the Court should decline to exercise jurisdiction over the claim.

Also