Culnane v Morris and Another
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | THE HON. MR JUSTICE EADY,Mr Justice Eady |
| Judgment Date | 08 November 2005 |
| Neutral Citation | [2005] EWHC 2438 (QB) |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division |
| Date | 08 November 2005 |
| Docket Number | Case No: HQ03X03023 |
[2005] EWHC 2438 (QB)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
The Hon. Mr Justice Eady
Case No: HQ03X03023
Ms Claire Miskin (instructed by Osmond & Osmond) for the Claimant
Ms Sara Mansoori (instructed by Wragge & Co) for the Defendant
Hearing date: 1st November 2005
Approved Judgment
I direct that pursuant to CPR PD 39A para 6.1 no official shorthand note shall be taken of this Judgment and that copies of this version as handed down may be treated as authentic.
Mr Justice Eady
On 1 st November 2005 a pre-trial review took place in these proceedings, which are due for trial before a jury on Monday 7 th November. Various matters were dealt with, including the hearing of a preliminary issue, encouraged by Gray J at an earlier hearing, whereby I was invited to rule upon the impact of s.10 of the Defamation Act 1952 upon the plea of qualified privilege (recently added by way of amendment).
The point is a rather unusual one, although the provision was bound to require consideration sooner or later in the light of the Human Rights Act 1998, as Lord Nicholls rather anticipated in Reynolds v Times Newspapers Ltd [2001] 2 AC 127, 197:
"Parliament seems to have taken the view that the defence of comment on a matter of public interest provided sufficient protection for election addresses. Whether this statutory provision can withstand scrutiny under the Human Rights Act 1998 is not a matter to be pursued on this appeal".
The case arises in this way. Ms Mary Culnane stood for election in November 2002, in the interests of the British National Party ("BNP"), at a bye-election in the Downham ward in the London Borough of Lewisham. She sues in these proceedings for defamation in respect of words contained in an article published in the local Liberal Democrat leaflet, "Downham Focus", three years ago on 2 nd November 2002. It was apparently written by another member of the party, a Ms Cathy Priddey, but it was approved by Mr Vijay Naidu, the Second Defendant, in his capacity as election agent. Mr Mark Morris, the First Defendant, was standing as the Liberal Democrat candidate.
The article was headed "Don't be fooled by the BNP" and contained the following words:
"The BNP are keen to persuade local residents that they are a respectable political party who will stand up for your interests. Don't be taken in!
Since BNP became active in Downham, local people tell us they have felt more intimidated and less safe, particularly at night. There's been an increase in racist graffiti and residents have reported a number of racially motivated attacks on people and their homes. One local resident reported being followed by a gang of youths chanting racial abuse and 'BNP' and having objects thrown at him whilst trying to do his shopping.
They are a blight on our area—and think how much worse it would be if they got elected! Downham would be seen by outsiders as a no-go area and house prices would fall as people would no longer be interested in moving in to our community.
Time and time again, respected bodies, such as the BBC, have discovered members of the BNP with links to football hooliganism and other violent activities. And this is a party that claims to want a crackdown on crime!
Facts about the BNP leadership.
FACT: 5 Out of the 15 members of the BNP Advisory Council have criminal convictions.
FACT: 10 out of the 27 BNP regional party organisers have criminal convictions.
There offences include:
"A petrol bomb attack "Possessing Weapons "Possession of drugs ?Violent attacks "Public disorder "Criminal damage "Offences under the Explosives Act "Attacking a teacher.
When you go to vote on November 7 th, ask yourself—is this the kind of person you want as your elected councillor?"
Almost a year elapsed before a letter of complaint was sent by the Claimant on 2 nd September 2003, the claim form following shortly afterwards on 30 th September. There will no doubt be arguments as to whether the words refer to the Claimant, and as to their meaning, but she contends that the words would convey the meaning that she has convictions:
"… for some or all the following criminal offences, alternatively that [she] is the kind of person who would commit some or all of the following criminal offences:
• A petrol bomb attack
• Possessing weapons
• Possession of drugs
• Violent attack
• Public disorder
• Criminal damage
• Offences under the Explosives Act
• Attacking a teacher".
Quite recently, in September of this year, there was a change of legal representation for the Defendants. It was this no doubt which led to the applications before Gray J on 13 th October for permission to amend the defence. They wished to expand and clarify the pleas of justification and fair comment, already relied upon, and to add a new defence of privilege, which was framed upon two alternative bases. In the light of certain pleaded facts, the Defendants wish to contend that they were each under a social, moral or legal duty to communicate to those to whom the words were published the true nature of the BNP and that the recipients had a corresponding interest in receiving the words complained of. It is said that the privileged occasion arose as a result of the duty and interest in correcting hypocritical and/or potentially misleading political statements by the BNP (and the Claimant on the BNP's behalf). It is expressly pleaded that this was quite independent of the fact that there was an election at the time of publication.
Alternatively, it is pleaded that, if any potential privilege is found only to arise as a result of the publication having taken place "at a time of an election" (which is denied), the provisions of s.10 of the 1952 Act should be construed in a manner which permits the availability of the defence of privilege in this case in order to comply with the Human Rights Act and certain articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, and specifically Articles 6 and 10.
In the amended reply, served on 21 st October 2005, the point is taken on the Claimant's behalf that no privilege attached to the occasion of publication, for a variety of reasons, and that in any event "the Claimant is entitled to rely on section 10 of the Defamation Act 1952 according to its true meaning and intendment". It is the Claimant's case that this statutory provision simply precludes reliance on privilege in the circumstances I have described. I therefore turn to the words of the enactment themselves:
"Limitation on privilege at elections
10. A defamatory statement published by or on behalf of a candidate in any election to a local government authority or to Parliament shall not be deemed to be published on a privileged occasion on the ground that it is material to a question in issue in the election, whether or not the person by whom it is published is qualified to vote at the election".
For what it is worth, the introductory rubric would appear to suggest that it was Parliament's intention that privilege at elections should be "limited" rather than precluded altogether. More importantly, however, it is to be noted that the section does not provide that: "A defamatory statement published by or on behalf of a candidate in any election to a local government authority or to Parliament shall be deemed not to be published on a privileged occasion …".
If I were to be determining the matter from first principles, and without reference to earlier appellate authority, I should construe the provision as making it clear that it would never be sufficient to establish privilege ipso facto that a defamatory statement was "material to a question in issue in the election". In other words, a candidate could not acquire a special privilege for the publication of defamatory statements, not open to other citizens, merely because he or she happened to be addressing such a material issue. It would not seem to me to be plausible that the legislature intended actually to cut down the rights of a candidate during an election period—by comparison, for example, with the rights that he or she would enjoy outside an election period or with the rights enjoyed by other citizens during the election period.
No doubt, in accordance with ordinary principles of defamation law, circumstances could arise in the course of communications with electors, or potential electors, that would give rise to a prima facie defence of qualified privilege. This would depend on whether the usual ingredients, such as a social or moral duty, or a common and corresponding interest, could be demonstrated to be present on the particular occasion. It seems counter-intuitive that the legislature intended that a citizen should have to face an additional hurdle purely by virtue of being a candidate at an election. As I commented in Donnelly v Young, 5 th November 2001 (unreported):
"Freedom of speech is, if anything, more important than ever in a democratic society at times when candidates are submitting themselves for election to their fellow citizens. Free and frank discussion is vital. The section cannot be construed, in my judgment, as imposing a more 'chilling' environment for the free communication of ideas and information at such times than generally applies. That would be absurd".
In the particular circumstances of Donnelly v Young the Defendants wished to rely upon the form of privilege generally categorised as "a reply to an attack". That was rather a special case and it has no application here. I took the view on that occasion that s.10 of the 1952 Act was not capable of cutting down any rights of that kind which would otherwise apply.
The observations I made in the Donnelly case about freedom of...
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