Day 313 - 13 Dec 96 - Page 57


     
     1        maintain actions for defamation.
     2
     3        That being so, article 10 has no place in your Lordship's
     4        consideration.  English law is clear, and your Lordship, as
     5        a judge at first instance, is bound by the Court of
     6        Appeal's decisions and by what Lord Keith said, of course,
     7        in the House of Lords.  These Plaintiffs have a right to
     8        sue in defamation for material published by these
     9        Defendants in this country within the limitation period, so
    10        long as that material affects their trading reputation, the
    11        words of Lord Keith being, if I can find it, which I do not
    12        think I can at the moment -- I had them a moment ago -- I
    13        am just trying to find it -----
    14
    15   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It was the part which Mr. Justice French
    16        quoted ---
    17
    18   MR. RAMPTON:  That is right.
    19
    20   MR. JUSTICE BELL: -- in his judgment, was it not?
    21
    22   MR. RAMPTON:  I knew I had seen it somewhere.
    23
    24   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  "The authorities cited clearly establish that
    25        a trading corporation is entitled to sue in respect of
    26        defamatory matters which can be seen as having a tendency
    27        to damage it in the way of its business".  Is that the part
    28        you had in mind?
    29
    30   MR. RAMPTON:  Yes, that is right.  It goes on somewhat, "... and
    31        might damage his prospects of recruiting people ... might
    32        deter others from doing business with him".
    33
    34   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What Lord Justice Gibson said is that if that
    35        is so that is the end of it, so far as English law is
    36        concerned.
    37
    38   MR. RAMPTON:  Yes.
    39
    40   MR. JUSTICE BELL: The same would apply, presumably you would
    41        say, to matters such as where the burden of proof lies, and
    42        so on, in that litigation?
    43
    44   MR. RAMPTON:  There is no question about that, whatever the
    45        European court may have said in the Icelandic case, the
    46        Thorgeirson case, can have no impact on English law at all.
    47
    48   MR. JUSTICE BELL: What Lord Justice Ralph Gibson went on to say
    49        is that if the defendant should then lose the action and go
    50        to the European Court and succeed there and get a judgment
    51        against the government of this country, it is for this
    52        country to decide whether to change the law or risk falling
    53        foul of the Convention again in future.
    54
    55   MR. RAMPTON:  That is right.  The government can decide not to
    56        obey the court's interpretation of their treaty obligations
    57        if it wishes it to do so, but that does not the Plaintiffs'
    58        right in the matter one way or the other.  The Plaintiff is
    59        not even a party to...  Or the winning party is not a party
    60        to the proceedings in Strasbourg at all.

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