Cases

Miller v Associated Newspapers Ltd

Held

(1) The plea would be struck out as untenable. Taking the facts to be true for the purposes of the application, and considering them in light of the the ten criteria set out by Lord Nicholls in Reynolds v Times Newspapers [2001] 2 AC 127 there was no duty to publish the article to the world at large. The articles were based on an incomplete and secondhand account of a confidential interim report with the status of a work in progress. There was no urgency to publish at a time when a criminal investigation into Ms Milroy Sloan's allegations was underway. Such matters militated strongly against privilege. Furthermore. minimal steps were taken to verify the information and neither the Metropolitan Police or the Claimant was approached for comment. (2) It was not correct to characterise the law as to qualified privilege as being in a state of flux which would justify not striking out the plea: E (A Minor) v Dorset County Council [1995] 2 AC 233 distinguished.

Also