The Court of Appeal (Popplewell LJ, Phillips LJ and Warby LJ) has dismissed an appeal by actor and director Noel Clarke in ongoing litigation against the publisher of the Guardian.
The appeal was against an order of Steyn J made at the pre-trial review on 20 January 2025, in which the Judge adjourned the hearing of an application to amend the existing libel and data protection claim and add new defendants until after the trial (now of liability only) in the existing claim. That trial will commence on 5 March 2025.
Mr Clarke sought permission to appeal the order on three grounds: (1) that the Judge was wrong to adjourn the hearing of the amendment application; (2) that the Judge was wrong to find that the proposed new defendants had standing and a right to be heard with the application; and (3) that the Judge was wrong to hear argument from counsel for the proposed new defendants at the PTR and to order him to pay their costs of attendance at that hearing.
The application for permission to appeal was considered at a rolled-up hearing on 20 February 2025. The “real issue” for the Court of Appeal (as Warby LJ puts it at [27] of his judgment) was whether there was any merit in Ground 1.
The Court of Appeal granted permission to appeal but unanimously dismissed the appeal after a half day hearing. This was a case management decision by an experienced Judge, and there was no basis to interfere with her conclusion.
Alexandra Marzec and Ben Gallop are instructed by Wiggin LLP, for Guardian News and Media.
The judgment is available here.