Category Archives: Media law

Macrons to submit scientific evidence to US court to prove Brigitte was not born a man

Posted on by

French president and wife allege rightwing influencer Candace Owens is using defamatory attacks against them to boost media profile

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his wife plan to present scientific evidence to a US court to prove that Brigitte Macron was not born a man, the lawyer representing them in a defamation suit has said.

The couple filed the suit in July against Candace Owens, a rightwing influencer, and her business, alleging continuing defamatory attacks against them in order to boost the profile of her media platform, gain more audience and make money.

Continue reading...

French president and wife sue rightwing US commentator Candace Owens for defamation

Posted on by

Owens has claimed that France’s first lady, Brigitte Macron, is a man, and that French president is controlled by CIA

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his wife, Brigitte Macron, are suing the rightwing commentator Candace Owens for defamation.

In a suit filed on Wednesday in Delaware against Owens and her businesses, the Macrons say Owens has engaged in ongoing defamatory attacks against them in order to elevate her media platform, gain more audience and make money.

Continue reading...

Gerry Adams’ BBC libel win risks more benign view of Troubles taking hold

Posted on by

Concerns raised that hefty award to politician over Spotlight episode could lead to less hard-hitting journalism

For more than half a century, Spotlight has roved a beam over Northern Ireland, illuminating dark and overlooked topics. But now the flagship BBC documentary series is itself in the glare of scrutiny.

Gerry Adams’ victory in a libel case on Friday dealt a heavy blow to Spotlight and the BBC and raises questions over the programme and the impact of the case on journalism in the UK and Ireland.

Continue reading...

Gerry Adams awarded €100,000 damages in libel victory over BBC

Posted on by

Former Sinn Féin leader sued broadcaster over allegation in documentary that he sanctioned murder of MI5 informant

Gerry Adams has won a defamation action against the BBC over a documentary that carried a claim he sanctioned the murder of an MI5 informant in 2006.

A jury at Dublin’s high court on Friday found that the BBC had not acted in good faith or in a fair and reasonable way and awarded the former Sinn Féin leader €100,000 (£84,000) in damages

Continue reading...

CNN defamation case foreshadows Trump media crackdown, experts say

Posted on by

Contractor Zachary Young wins damages over Afghanistan story in trial notable for prosecution’s aggressive stance

A combative defamation trial in Florida, involving CNN and a former US security contractor in Afghanistan, is providing a roadmap for a crackdown on media independence during the second Trump administration, experts believe.

The case was already unusual because CNN chose to defend itself and risk millions in damages, while other media giants such as ABC News and the Washington Post have opted to back down in the face of threats of persecution from the incoming president. Ultimately, after 18 hours of deliberation, the jury found that CNN defamed the contractor and awarded Zachary Young $4m in lost business and $1m in personal damages.

Continue reading...

Labour donor Dale Vince has libel case against Daily Mail thrown out

Posted on by

Energy entrepreneur claimed headline about different man used alongside his photograph was defamatory

The millionaire Labour donor Dale Vince’s £100,000 libel case against the Daily Mail has been thrown out after a high court judge ruled it did not have a realistic chance of success.

The green energy businessman and Forest Green Rovers chairman claimed the newspaper libelled him in a June 2023 article titled “Labour repays £100,000 to ‘sex harassment’ donor”.

Continue reading...

Bruce Lehrmann granted extension to consider appeal of defamation ruling in Network Ten case

Posted on by

Justice Michael Lee labels Ten lawyer’s comments outside court following judgment ‘discourteous’ and ‘misleading’

Bruce Lehrmann has been granted an extension of time to consider an appeal at a federal court hearing which saw Network Ten’s conduct outside the court, after the judgment, described by Justice Michael Lee as “discourteous” and “misleading”.

Lee said Ten’s decision to offer comment outside his court minutes after the judgment was handed down had caused him concern, in particular the claim the network had been vindicated.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial live updates: verdict an ‘unmitigated disaster’ for Lehrmann, Ten lawyer says; Wilkinson says she ‘published a true story about rape’

Posted on by

Justice Lee finds Ten’s defence of truth successful after Lehrmann sued the network and journalist Lisa Wilkinson in the federal court of Australia for defamation. Follow the latest news and updates from the judgment today

Bruce Lehrmann and Lisa Wilkinson have both arrived into courtroom one on the 21st level of the federal court building in central Sydney.

Lehrmann is sitting at the bench, alongside his legal team, while Wilkinson is sitting on the other side of the courtroom in the front row of the gallery, in a row of red reserved seats.

Continue reading...

Bruce Lehrmann’s lawyers call for substantial damages despite ‘unsatisfactory’ evidence in defamation case

Posted on by

Network Ten describes former Liberal staffer as ‘fundamentally dishonest’ in submissions released by federal court

Bruce Lehrmann’s legal team has accepted their client’s evidence in his defamation trial against Network Ten was “in a number of respects unsatisfactory”, but not to the extent that he is a “compulsive liar” or had raped Brittany Higgins, newly released documents reveal.

In written closing submissions released by the federal court on Friday, Lehrmann’s legal team also said the defence “significantly and unfairly” overstated the “acknowledged problems” with parts of his evidence.

Continue reading...

Lehrmann proceedings day 21 – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Justice Lee describes some of Lehrmann barrister’s suggestions about Higgins’ behaviour as ‘simplistic’

Justice Lee has said it is simplistic to suggest a young woman could not have been sexually assaulted because she carried on in a professional manner.

Continue reading...

Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial: claim Higgins ‘monstrously fabricated’ rape to save job ‘incoherent’, Ten’s barrister says

Posted on by

Lehrmann has sued Lisa Wilkinson and Network Ten for defamation in the federal court of Australia over Brittany Higgins interview on The Project

Ten’s barrister says network does not have to prove if Higgins had to choose between justice and her job

Collins said it is not the burden of Network Ten to establish that there “were in fact roadblocks to a police investigation, or that Ms Higgins in fact, had to choose between her career and the pursuit of justice”.

Continue reading...

Lawyer apologises for saying Michelle Mone was not linked to PPE firm

Posted on by

Jonathan Coad, who represented former Tory peer, says sorry for unwittingly misleading the media

A lawyer who represented Michelle Mone has offered an “unqualified apology” for incorrectly claiming she was not connected to a firm that received PPE contracts worth £200m during the coronavirus pandemic.

Two other lawyers who acted for the former Conservative peer had told the media she was not connected to or involved in the company, PPE Medpro, and said client confidentiality limited what they could say about the matter.

Continue reading...

Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial: lip-reader tells court CCTV footage showed Brittany Higgins was being ‘plied with alcohol’ on night of alleged rape

Posted on by

Lehrmann has sued Lisa Wilkinson and Network Ten for defamation in the federal court of Australia over Brittany Higgins interview on The Project. Follow updates

Justice Lee denies request from Brown’s team to clear court of all but accredited media

Justice Michael Lee has denied a request from Fiona Brown’s legal team that the court be cleared of everyone but accredited media.

Continue reading...

Brittany Higgins told senior colleague she remembered Bruce Lehrmann on top of her, defamation trial hears

Posted on by

Linda Reynolds’ then chief of staff Fiona Brown was first to interview pair after alleged rape, which Lehrmann has always denied

Former Liberal staffer Fiona Brown was dramatically compelled to give evidence in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial on Monday on the proviso the federal court’s live stream was disabled while she was in the witness box.

Brown was Senator Linda Reynolds’ chief of staff at the time Brittany Higgins claims Lehrmann raped her on the ministerial couch, and was the first person to interview both of them. She took contemporaneous notes.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Brittany Higgins takes stand in Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial as lawyer warns her evidence will be ‘graphic and distressing’

Posted on by

Court also told Seven Network paid Lehrmann’s rent for 12 months to compensate him for two interviews with the Spotlight program

Brittany Higgins has taken the stand in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson at the start of evidence the defence says will be “graphic and distressing”.

Network Ten’s barrister, Matt Collins KC, said Higgins will tell the court about being allegedly sexually assaulted by Lehrmann in senator Linda Reynolds’ office in 2019 after a night when she had consumed at least 12 vodkas and was “more drunk than she had ever been in her life”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Bruce Lehrmann tells court he did not have sex with Brittany Higgins while she was ‘semi-conscious or passed out’

Posted on by

At defamation trial against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson, Lehrmann says two later emails he sent Higgins failed to mention evening because it was ‘uneventful’

Bruce Lehrmann has denied during his defamation trial having sexual intercourse with Brittany Higgins while she was “semi-conscious or passed out” on a couch in Parliament House.

At Lehrmann’s civil case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson, Matt Collins KC for Ten put a series of propositions to him about what happened between 1.48am and 2.30am on 23 March 2019.

Continue reading...

Leading critic of Egyptian state jailed for six months

Posted on by

Free speech advocate Hisham Kassem sentenced for defaming former minister Kamal Abu Eita

A court in Cairo has sentenced a former newspaper publisher, free speech advocate and rights activist to six months in prison, in a trial observers say constitutes an attack on a leading critic of the Egyptian state.

Hisham Kassem, the former publisher of Al Masry Al Youm newspaper, received six months in detention and a fine of 20,000 Egyptian pounds (approximately £523) for slandering and defaming Kamal Abu Eita. Abu Eita is a former minister and current member of Egypt’s presidential pardon committee, tasked with granting clemency towards some of the tens of thousands of detainees in the Egyptian prison system.

Continue reading...

Ben Roberts-Smith to appeal after defamation case was dismissed by federal court

Posted on by

Ex-soldier lost case against three newspapers in June with trial judge finding they had proven on the balance of probabilities that Roberts-Smith murdered unarmed civilians in Afghanistan

Ben Roberts-Smith has launched an appeal after he lost his war crimes defamation trial in the federal court.

Justice Anthony Besanko found in June that three newspapers had proven Roberts-Smith had, on the balance of probabilities, murdered unarmed civilians while serving in the Australian military in Afghanistan.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Linda Reynolds says she has ‘had enough’ as she threatens Brittany Higgins with defamation case

Posted on by

Higgins had called on the senator to ‘stop’ after Reynolds confirmed she intended to refer commonwealth’s settlement with Higgins to anti-corruption watchdog

Brittany Higgins has revealed she has received a defamation threat from her former boss Linda Reynolds over an Instagram post that included a list of complaints against the senator.

Reynolds has responded by accusing Higgins of “defamation of my character”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

UK government ‘let lawyers bypass sanctions’ to help Putin ally sue journalist

Posted on by

Documents seen by Open Democracy show UK firm got approval to engage with Wagner group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin

British lawyers were given government dispensation to bypass sanctions in order to help Yevgeny Prigozhin, the controversial Russian businessman and Wagner group founder, sue a journalist, according to documents made available to the website Open Democracy.

The documents concern a libel case brought by Prigozhin against Eliot Higgins, the founder of the investigative group Bellingcat, in 2021. The revelations will raise further questions about the abuse of UK libel law by the super-rich.

Continue reading...