Latest news

5RB‘s juniors were generally said to be of ‘outstanding quality’.  Individuals were praised as follows: ‘Intellectually incisive‘ Stephen Bate was described as a “copyright and licensing expert.” In Justin Rushbrooke‘s ‘depth of expertise‘, David Sherborne ‘… Read More »

The annual Legal 500 review of the legal profession has once again named 5RB as a leading set in Defamation and Privacy and in Media, Entertainment and Sport. The independent survey found that 5RB enjoys ‘fantastic clerking‘ and is a ‘leading libel set, with… Read More »

The  Ministry of Justice today launched a consultation on the multiple publication rule and how it applies to the internet Currently, the law allows a claim to be brought each time a libel is published…. Read More »

A pilot scheme designed to control costs in libel, slander and malicious falsehood claims will be introduced in the autumn. Details of the scheme, which will run for one year at the Royal Courts of Justice… Read More »

The Met Police have issued new guidance to police officers on the use of anti-terrorism legislation against media photographers and other members of the public with cameras.  The new guidance warns police officers to exercise… Read More »

The science writer Simon Singh has been refused leave to appeal by the Court of Appeal in relation to a ruling on meaning in a libel claim brought against him by the British Chiropractic Association. … Read More »

Jacob Zuma, the President of South Africa, accepted libel damages and an apology from The Guardian today in the High Court. In a unilateral statement in open court read today, the court heard that President… Read More »

Frank Warren was today awarded £35,000 in the High Court in libel damages in respect of false claims made last year by boxer Herbie Hide on Setanta Sports News that Warren had paid a boxer… Read More »

Legal information provider Sweet & Maxwell has published figures which show that there has been a significant rise in the number of libel cases being brought, particularly by businesses. The Sweet & Maxwell figures record… Read More »

5RB’s Joint Head of Chambers, Desmond Browne QC, has been named in The Times newspaper’s list of ‘Britain’s most powerful lawyers’. The choices of the newspaper’s judging panel span all types of legal work, from academia to the… Read More »

The jury in the trial of the libel action brought by Express Newspapers owner Richard Desmond against writer Tom Bower returned a verdict for the defendant this evening. Mr Desmond brought the libel claim against Mr Bower in respect… Read More »

One jockey has admitted deliberate ‘non-trying’, and he and 3 others have admitted involvement in the use of inside information for gambling, at the end of an Inquiry by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) into… Read More »

The High Court ruled last week that Google was not a publisher at common law in respect of defamatory statements appearing as part of the information snippets published in its search engine results. In only… Read More »

The Guardian newspaper claims that journalists at the News of the World have used private investigators to listen into the calls of many high profile public figures in pursuit of their stories.  Those alleged to… Read More »

The Medical Review Panel of the British Horseracing Authority yesterday declared Hayley Turner, the well-known female jockey, fit to ride. Ms Turner’s licence application had been turned down on health grounds arising out of a… Read More »

The trial of the libel action brought by Express Newspapers owner Richard Desmond against writer Tom Bower over a paragraph of his biography of Conrad Black was stopped today by Mr Justice Eady on its second day, after the Judge… Read More »

A woman labelled “potentially violent” after complaining to a council about a vandalised flowerbed has been awarded £12,000 in libel damages by a jury in the High Court today. Jane Clift brought defamation proceedings against Slough… Read More »

Mr Justice Eady today gave his written reasons for declining to grant a pseudonymous blogger an injunction preventing the Times from publishing his identity. The blogger, a serving police officer who recently won the Orwell… Read More »

Mohammed Taranissi, a doctor specialising in fertility treatment, has settled his libel claim against the BBC. Mr Taranissi brought  the claim in respect of allegations contained in a Panorama programme broadcast in January 2007. The BBC initially… Read More »

In its last evidence session for its inquiry into press standards, privacy and libel, the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee heard from Charmian Gooch of Global Witness, solicitor Mark Stephens and… Read More »