Suresh v. Samad
Case Law- Country
- Country Location
Latitude: 52.32950805122076
Longitude: -1.4047851562500706
- Country Location (linked Case Law)
- United Kingdom
- Decision Date
- 18 de jan. de 2018
- Case Status
- Closed
- Case Outcome (Procedural)
- Motion Granted/Motion Denied
- Case Outcome (Disposition)
- Administrative Measures/Administrative Sanctions to Protect FoE
- Keywords
- Defamation
- Libel
- Judicial Body
- First Instance Court
- Case Number
- HQ15D03918
- Case Summary
The English High Court of Justice, in a preliminary decision concerning a libel case, disallowed the defendants from raising a defense of truth but allowed one of them to pursue a public interest defense. A video published on YouTube and Facebook showed one of the defendants interviewing the second and third defendants who alleged that the chairman of a charity had engaged in wrongdoing. The Court reasoned that the defendants had no chance of succeeding in a defense of truth at trial because they had failed to provide any evidence of the truth of their allegations. Likewise, the Court reasoned that the interviewees had not presented any evidence that would allow them to prove at trial that their belief that publication was in the public interest was reasonable. However the Court considered that the interviewer had merely reported the allegations of others and it could not be said that his public interest defense was bound to fail at trial.
- Case Significance
The decision establishes a binding or persuasive precedent within its jurisdiction.
- Source Name and URL
- Columbia Global Freedom of Expression