Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Defamation: High threshold for summary judgment on responsibility for publication; participation and agency can be pleaded in the alternative — Mir v Hussain [2024] EWHC 56 (KB), England and Wales

Published on: 31 January 2024

Published by a LexisNexis TMT expert

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Article summary

Mir v Hussain and others [2024] EWHC 56 (KB)

What are the practical implications of this case?

The ruling underscores the stringent threshold defendants must meet when pursuing summary judgment on the basis that they are not publishers of defamatory material. Save in the most clear-cut scenarios, summary judgment will be out of reach. Whether a defendant bears responsibility for publication is intensely fact-dependent. The setting and context of dissemination will usually be known to the defendant (and not the claimant), leaving the claimant to seek an inference of participatory publication from circumstantial proof. Where the claimant can adduce enough material to justify such an inference, shutting the case out without a full trial will seldom be proper. The ruling further confirms that a claimant may plead liability by participation in publication, while in the alternative relying upon agency principles.

What was the background?

Mr Hussain (the first defendant) established a political party known as the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), founding that organisation. Mr Mir (the claimant) had previously been a senior figure within the MQM and had once been a close colleague and supporter of Mr Hussain, closely aligned with him within the party, at the time, but later...

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