Raffaele Mincione v Gedi Gruppo Editoriale SpA
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Mr Justice Murray |
| Judgment Date | 30 November 2023 |
| Neutral Citation | [2023] EWHC 3029 (KB) |
| Court | King's Bench Division |
| Docket Number | Case No: QB-2020-004499 |
[2023] EWHC 3029 (KB)
THE HONOURABLE Mr Justice Murray
Case No: QB-2020-004499
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
KING'S BENCH DIVISION
MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS LIST
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
Ms Lorna Skinner KC and Ms Kirsten Sjøvoll (instructed by Withers LLP) for the Claimant
Mr Aidan Eardley KC and Mr Luke Browne (instructed by Archerfield Partners LLP) for the Defendant
Hearing date: 9 November 2023
Approved Judgment
This judgment was handed down remotely by circulation to the parties' representatives by email and release to The National Archives. The date and time for hand-down are deemed to be 30 November 2023 at 10:30 am
Mr Raffaele Mincione has brought a claim against Gedi Gruppo Editoriale SpA (“Gedi Gruppo”) for libel in respect of four articles (including one in English) and two videos, each of which was published and remains on-line and accessible in England and Wales.
I have before me Mr Mincione's application dated 5 June 2023 to strike out Gedi Gruppo's defence of truth under section 2 of the Defamation Act 2013 (“the Application”). The essence of Mr Mincione's argument in support of the Application is that the pleaded defence is not sufficiently clear and coherent, includes many bare and undeveloped assertions, contains irrelevant narrative, and/or impermissibly speculates as to the factual position.
Relevant background
Mr Mincione is a businessman with more than 20 years' experience in the financial sector in banking and investment management. He is an Italian national. He obtained a British passport by naturalisation in 2018, as did his wife and two daughters.
Gedi Gruppo is an Italian company that publishes the Italian language publications La Repubblica and L'Espresso. It occasionally also publishes articles in English.
La Repubblica is a daily newspaper that is published online and is accessible worldwide. It is also published in a digital edition, available to subscribers only, which is an exact replica of the day's hard copy edition. L'Espresso is a weekly current affairs magazine that is published online and in digital and hard copy editions. The online version is accessible worldwide.
Gedi Gruppo also operates the Rep tv website (video.repubblica.it) and a YouTube channel (@repubblica), on which it posts videos.
These proceedings concern four articles, three in Italian and one in English, and a video in Italian published on two separate platforms (namely, the Rep tv website and YouTube, as described further below). All of these publications (“the Publications”) have been published via the internet by Gedi Gruppo in England and Wales.
Mr Mincione seeks damages, including aggravated damages, for libel and other relief in respect of the six Publications. The first of the Publications was published on 29 September 2020 and the last on 29 October 2020. All six remain online and accessible from England and Wales.
Procedural history
On 17 December 2020, Mr Mincione served the claim form and original Particulars of Claim on Gedi Gruppo. The latter were amended by agreement on 4 May 2021 and re-amended by agreement on 7 July 2021.
Following a trial of preliminary issues on 9 December 2022, Griffiths J handed down judgment on 22 December 2022 (neutral citation: [2022] EWHC 3268 (KB)) (“the Meaning Judgment”) in which he set out his determination of the ordinary and natural meaning of each of the Publications and, where applicable, any innuendo meaning.
On 5 January 2023, further to paragraph 1 of the order of Griffiths J dated 22 December 2022, Mr Mincione served Re-Re-Amended Particulars of Claim (“the RRAPoC”).
On 3 March 2023, Gedi Gruppo served its Defence. It served further draft amendments to its Defence on 3 and 18 May 2023 and on 8 August 2023. Each amendment is marked on the draft Amended Defence in the hearing bundle at tab 5, together with a footnote specifying the date of the amendment. It is agreed between the parties that the amendments are not material to the determination of the Application, and therefore I have been invited to review the Defence, including the proposed amendments (“the Amended Defence”). If the Application is unsuccessful, Mr Mincione will consent to the amendments pursuant to CPR r 17.1(2)(a). In other words, the Application proceeds on the basis that the amendments have been made. Further references in this judgment will therefore be to the Amended Defence, even though not yet approved.
Gedi Gruppo relies on the substantive defence of substantial truth under section 2 of the Defamation Act 2013. It also denies serious harm.
On 28 March 2023, Mr Mincione made a request for further information under CPR Part 18, to which Gedi Gruppo responded on 3 May 2023. Following further correspondence, Gedi Gruppo provided a draft amended Part 18 response to Mr Mincione (“the Response”). It is agreed between the parties that the Application should be considered and determined on the basis that the draft amended Response has been served. Further references in this judgment to the Response should be understood, therefore, in that sense.
The Publications and the meanings of the Publications
Dealing with the Publications in the order in which they are set out in the RRAPoC, the first Publication is an article in Italian dated 29 September 2020 published in the digital edition of La Repubblica and online at www.repubblica.it, with the headline “ Il sacco del Vaticano: ‘Svuotato anche il conto del Papa’”, for which the agreed translation is “The plundering of the Vatican: ‘Even the Pope's account has been emptied’”.
The second Publication is an article in English dated 30 September 2020 published online at www.repubblica.it, with the headline, “This is how they stole money from the Pope”. It is a loose translation, prepared in-house, of the first Publication.
The third Publication is an article in Italian dated 23 October 2020, published in the digital edition of La Repubblica and online at www.repubblica.it, with the headline “ Una associazione a delinquere contro la Santa Sede”, for which the agreed translation is “A criminal conspiracy against the Holy See”.
The fourth Publication is a statement that was published on 29 October 2020 in the digital edition of L'Espresso and online at www.espresso.repubblica.it, under the heading “ Quell'Arcivescovo è gay e pedofilo: spuntano i nuovi dossier falsi per i ricatti in Vaticano”, for which the agreed translation is “That Archbishop is gay and a paedophile: new fake dossiers for Vatican blackmail emerge”.
The fifth Publication is a video in Italian, 17 minutes and 52 seconds long, consisting of a “talking heads” style interview between a journalist, Ms Giulia Santerini, and a guest commentator, Mr Carlo Bonini, which was published on 30 September 2020 on Gedi Gruppo's Rep tv website ( video.repubblica.it). The video caption reads “ Focus – Il sacco del Vaticano, Bonini: ‘Cosi hanno depredato Francesco’”, for which the agreed translation is “Focus – The plunder of the Vatican, Bonini: This is how they plundered Francis”.
The sixth Publication is the same video as the fifth Publication, published on 30 September 2020 on the YouTube channel of La Repubblica (@repubblica) at youtube.com/repubblica.
In the Meaning Judgment at [79], Griffiths J set out in summary the meanings that he had determined for each the Publications as follows:
“In summary, therefore, the ordinary and natural meaning of the articles and the Video, so far as defamatory statements about the Claimant are concerned, is:
i) The [first Publication]:
‘There are very strong grounds to suspect that the Claimant played a leading role in the corrupt and criminal plundering and looting of the assets of the Vatican worth up to 454 million Euros including money given for alms through donations to Peter's Pence. There are therefore very strong grounds to suspect that the Claimant is guilty of criminal offences.’
ii) The [second Publication]:
‘There are very strong grounds to suspect that the Claimant played a leading role in the corrupt and criminal plundering and stealing of the assets of the Vatican worth up to 454 million Euros including money given for alms through donations to Peter's Pence. There are therefore very strong grounds to suspect that the Claimant is guilty of criminal offences.’
iii) The [third Publication]:
‘There are reasonable grounds to suspect that the Claimant is guilty of the criminal offences of abuse of authority, embezzlement, corruption and money laundering, and the use of proceeds from criminal activities to the detriment of the Holy See. There are strong grounds to suspect that the Claimant is guilty of conspiracy with Torzi and Crasso and others to the detriment of the Holy See.’
iv) The [third Publication] has the following additional innuendo meaning (assuming proof of the facts relied upon in support of it), added in bold and square brackets below:
‘There are reasonable grounds to suspect that the Claimant is guilty of the criminal offences of abuse of authority, embezzlement, corruption and money laundering, and the use of proceeds from criminal activities, to the detriment of the Holy See. There are strong grounds to suspect that the Claimant is guilty of conspiracy with Torzi and Crasso and others, to the detriment of the Holy See[, including Peter's Pence funds reserved for charitable purposes].’
v) The [fourth Publication] has the following ordinary and natural meaning:
‘There are very strong grounds to suspect that the Claimant played a leading role in a criminal conspiracy which diverted over €100 million from the Vatican.’
vi) The [fourth Publication] has the additional innuendo meaning (assuming proof of the innuendo-supporting facts) added in...
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