Day 307 - 27 Nov 96 - Page 37


     
     1   MR. MORRIS:   No-one from McDonald's is interviewed, so it must
     2        have been from the press release.
     3
     4   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   All I was asking for is any documents which
     5        indicate that what McDonald's said about lies, or anything
     6        else for that matter, came into correspondence, was passed
     7        on.  You have given me those, if you come across any others
     8        just let me know about them as well.
     9
    10   MS. STEEL:   In the last page of the defence to counterclaim the
    11        particulars -- sorry, it is not the last page, it starts on
    12        page 11, and it says "The said words set out were published
    13        by the Second Plaintiff in necessary reasonable and
    14        legitimate response to or in anticipation of the public
    15        attack upon the Plaintiffs made or prompted by the
    16        Defendants in the form of the material complained in the
    17        files appended hereto".
    18
    19        We would say, and I think Mr. Morris is going to go into
    20        more detail about this, that the press releases and
    21        leaflets issued by the Plaintiffs were not a reasonable and
    22        legitimate response, that they were way over the top, that
    23        they were vicious attacks, as I said this morning, on
    24        myself and Mr. Morris, and that the Plaintiffs cannot
    25        complain, if they bring a libel case, that the matter is
    26        getting publicity.  They must know, when they bring a claim
    27        for libel, that that is going to attract media attention
    28        and it cannot be the case that everybody who brings a libel
    29        case against somebody, and thereby invites media attention
    30        to that issue, therefore, has a legitimate reason to go out
    31        and completely try and discredit the character of the
    32        defendant.  That just cannot be the case.
    33
    34        Anyway, Mr. Morris was going to go into that in more
    35        detail.
    36
    37        At the bottom of that page, on page 3, McDonald's say, "In
    38        the premises the Second Plaintiff published the words set
    39        out...", and so on,"pursuant to a moral or social duty
    40        and/or legitimate interest to protect the Plaintiffs'
    41        respected reputation from public attack and in each case
    42        the publishers were under a moral and social duty and/or
    43        had a legitimate interest to receive the same by way of
    44        response to or reasonable anticipation of the said public
    45        attack".
    46
    47        Now, this was started on page 10, this was the particulars
    48        of their claim for the publication being published on an
    49        occasion of qualified privilege.
    50 
    51        Now, I have not done any research into the law on this 
    52        matter.  One of the cases that I handed up the other 
    53        morning in relation to publication, when I was reading that
    54        the other day I noticed that in actual fact that is about
    55        privilege.  That is Hebditch v. Mcilwaine QB Division 1894.
    56
    57   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Yes, I have that.
    58
    59   MS. STEEL:   On page 64 it starts.  It says: "In order that the
    60        occasion upon which a defamatory statement is made may be

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