Cases

Best v Charter Medical of England Ltd

Held

(1) In most cases of alleged slander, the Claimant must set out the words alleged to have been spoken in the Particulars of Claim with reasonable certainty - CPR Part 53 PD 2.4 considered; British Data Management plc -v- Boxer Commercial Removals plc [1996] EMLR 349 and Collins v Jones [1995] 1 QB 564 applied (2) It was not sufficient to plead that the Defendant had made a statement "to the effect" of some defamatory meaning. Rosen v Alberta Motor Association Co (1994) 1 WWR 719 considered. (3) The only exception to this strict rule was where a Claimant could satisfy the Court that the Defendant had on a specific occasion uttered a defamatory statement about the Claimant of a particular nature. If so, then the Claimant could show that he was not fishing and his claim would be allowed to proceed to the stage where he could seek further information from the Defendant about the precise words used. British Data Management (above) applied.

Also