Reference: [2012] EWHC 1809
Court: High Court (Queen's Bench Division)
Judge: Sharp J
Date of judgment: 6 Jul 2012
Summary: Libel claim based on a news article in Nature magazine
Appearances: Andrew Caldecott KC - Leading Counsel (Defendant) Aidan Eardley KC (Defendant)
Instructing Solicitors: Taylor Wessing LLP
Facts
An article in the issue of Nature dated 27.11.08 reported the imminent retirement of the Claimant as editor-in-chief of an academic journal Chaos, Solitons and Fractals. The article was defamatory of the Claimant, alleging among other things that he had abused his position by publishing an excessive number of articles written by himself.
Issue
Meaning; justification; fair comment; Reynolds privilege
Held
Sharp J largely accepted the Defendant’s case on meaning. The defences of justification, fair comment and Reynolds privilege all succeeded.