Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Repetition rule: republication of others’ allegations conveyed guilt (Chase Level 1); meaning decided on written submissions in Hewson v Times Newspapers [2019] EWHC 650 (QB)

Published on: 29 March 2019

Published by a LexisNexis TMT expert

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Article summary

Hewson v Times Newspapers Ltd and another [2019] EWHC 650 (QB)

Practical implications

The ruling is noteworthy as the court spelt out the correct approach to the repetition rule, describing the matter as a textbook instance of how the rule should operate. That rule stops a report that relays an allegation from being held to bear a milder defamatory meaning than the original allegation would carry. Here, the pieces both included and recounted accusations made by others. The court emphasised that publications that simply repeat others’ claims will generally amount to a fresh publication of those claims. As to meaning, the consequence was that the re-publisher was treated as having ‘adopted’ the allegations, without any need for active or express adoption. On that footing, the court held the articles conveyed allegations of guilt. The court also unusually resolved the question of meaning without an oral hearing, relying solely on written submissions from the parties.

Background

The claimant issued libel proceedings against the publishers of The Times (the first defendant) and The MailOnline (the second defendant) arising from articles published by the defendants concerned, which the claimant challenged in these libel claims, the particulars of which are not set out here...

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