Defamation Damages in UK Law
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John v MGN Ltd
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In assessing the appropriate damages for injury to reputation the most important factor is the gravity of the libel; the more closely it touches the plaintiff's personal integrity, professional reputation, honour, courage, loyalty and the core attributes of his personality, the more serious it is likely to be. The extent of publication is also very relevant: a libel published to millions has a greater potential to cause damage than a libel published to a handful of people.
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Broome v Cassell & Company Ltd
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Such actions involve a money award which may put the plaintiff in a purely financial sense in a much stronger position than he was before the wrong. Not merely can he recover the estimated sum of his past and future losses, but, in case the libel, driven underground, emerges from its lurking place at some future date, he must be able to point to a sum awarded by a jury sufficient to convince a bystander of the baselessness of the charge.
The bad conduct of the plaintiff himself may also enter into the matter, where he has provoked the libel, or where perhaps he has libelled the defendant in reply. What is awarded is thus a figure which cannot be arrived at by any purely objective computation. This is what is meant when the damages in defamation are described as being "at large".
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A.B. v South West Water Services Ltd
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To the extent that any of these effects was magnified or exacerbated by the defendants' conduct, the ordinary measure of damages will compensate. The question is whether, in addition to that full compensatory measure, the plaintiffs have pleaded a sustainable claim for additional compensation by way of aggravated damages. I know of no precedent for awarding damages for indignation aroused by a defendant's conduct.
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Rookes v Barnard
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It extends to cases in which the Defendant is seeking to gain at the expense of the Plaintiff some object,—perhaps some property which he covets,—which either he could not obtain at all or not obtain except at a price greater than he wants to put down. Exemplary damages can properly be awarded whenever it is necessary to teach a wrongdoer that tort does not pay.
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Joyce v Sengupta and Another
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The history of malicious falsehood as a cause of action shows it was not designed to provide a remedy for such injury: the remedy for such loss is an action for defamation in which, incidentally, damages for injury to feelings may be included in a general award of damages: see the Fielding case, per Lord Denning M.R. at p.851 and Salmon L.J. at p.855.
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McCarey v Associated Newspapers Ltd (No. 2)
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They may also include natural injury to his feelings; the natural grief and distress which he may feel in being spoken of in defamatory terms; and if there has been any kind of high-handed, oppressive, insulting or contumelious behaviour by the defendant which increases the mental pain and suffering which is caused by the defamation and which may constitute injury to the plaintiff's pride and self-confidence, those are proper elements to be taken into account in a case where the damages are at large.
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Defamation Act 1996
... ... (5) If the parties do not agree on the amount to be paid by way of compensation, it shall be determined by the court on the same principles as damages in defamation proceedings.The court shall take account of any steps taken in fulfilment of the offer and (so far as not agreed between the parties) ... ...
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Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003
... ... library, or a person acting on its behalf, is not liable in damages ... for defamation arising out of the doing by a relevant person of an ... ...
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The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2013
... ... (b) after the entry for “Exemplary damages”, insert— ... “Damages-based agreement ... A damages-based ... (12) Any defamation proceedings commenced before 1 April 2013 within the scope of the ... ...
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Defamation Act 1952
... ... S-12 ... Evidence of other damages recovered by plaintiff. 12 Evidence of other damages recovered by plaintiff ... 12. In any action for libel or slander the defendant may give ... ...
- Facts Relevant to the Assessment of Damages in Defamation: Turner v News Group Newspapers Ltd
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‘Only Flattery is Safe’: Political Speech and the Defamation Act 1996
... ... of Toronto (1995) 126 DLR (4th) 129, an invitation to adopt a Sullivan -like defence was refused in Canada; see Huscroft, ‘Defamation, Damages and Freedom of Expression in Canada’ (1996) 112 LQR 46. The Modern Law Review [Vol. 60 392 The Modern Law Review Limited 1997 ... not ... ...
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Author Index
... ... 307Bagshaw, Roderick, Facts relevant to theassessment of damages in defamation:Turner vNews Group Newspapers Ltd ... 134Burton, ... ...
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Punishment for Defamers
... ... the restrictions placed on the right to exemplary damages in tort by the House of Lords in Roolces v. Bnrnard (1851) ... 28 apply to actions for defamation, a field in which formerly they appeared with some ... ...
- Court Awards Damages For Defamation And Breach Of Privacy For Facebook Postings
- Mistaken Identity And Defamation: How To Reduce The Impact Of A Damages Claim
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Defamation Claims in UK Require Proof of “Serious Harm”
The English courts have traditionally been a popular forum for defamation claims, not least because English law allows even non-residents who have minimal reputation in the UK to sue for defamation...... ... law allows even non-residents who have minimal reputation in the UK to sue for defamation in the English courts and be awarded substantial damages. English law is seen as favouring the protection of reputation over the protection of freedom of expression, certainly when compared with the ... ...
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BuzzFeed Faces $11 Million in Defamation Suit by British News Agency
BuzzFeed, the popular independent digital media company, was hit with an $11 million defamation suit in January 2016 by journalist Michael Leidig and Central European News (“CEN”). Leidig and ...... ... Leidig and CEN are demanding more than $11 million in damages over an August 24, 2015 BuzzFeed article titled “The King of Bullsh*t News” and subtitled “How a small British news agency and its founder ... ...