Beta Construction Ltd v Channel Four Television Co Ltd: CA 1990

When considering the number of documents to be considered when deciding whether a defamation case should proceed before a judge or judge and jury, the court was entitled to look also at any specialised technical content of the documents and also amongst the factors to be considered are the additional length and cost of a jury trial compared with trial by judge alone. Stuart-Smith LJ identified four areas in which the efficient administration of justice might be made less than convenient if trial takes place with jury: The physical problem of handling large numbers of documents in the jury box; The prolongation of the trial because of the number and complexity of the documents; The increased expense, both by the added length of the [jury] trial and copying; and The risk that the jury may not understand the documents.

Judges:

Stuart-Smith LJ, Neill LJ, Ralph Gibson LJ

Citations:

[1990] 1 WLR 1042, [1990] 2 All ER 1012

Statutes:

Supreme Court Act 1961 69

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

CitedGoldsmith v Pressdram Ltd CA 1988
The court considered whether to order a defamation trial to be before a judge alone, or with a jury.
Held: The word ‘examination’ has a wide connotation, is not limited to the documents which contain the actual evidence in the case and . .

Cited by:

CitedRight Hon Aitken MP and Preston; Pallister and Guardian Newspapers Ltd CA 15-May-1997
The defendants appealed against an order that a defamation trial should proced before a judge alone.
Held: ‘Where the parties, or one of them, is a public figure, or there are matters of national interest in question, this would suggest the . .
CitedCollins Stewart Ltd and Another v The Financial Times Ltd QBD 20-Oct-2004
The claimants sought damages for defamation. The claimed that the article had caused very substantial losses (andpound;230 million) to them by affecting their market capitalisation value. The defendant sought to strike out that part of the claim. . .
CitedFiddes v Channel Four Television Corporation and Others CA 29-Jun-2010
The claimants in a defamation case made an interlocutory appeal against an order for trial by judge alone. The parties had agreed for trial by jury, but the defendants made a late application for trial by judge alone.
Held: The claimant’s . .
CitedCook v Telegraph Media Group Ltd QBD 29-Mar-2011
The claimant, an MP, complained in defamation of the defendant’s description of his rejected expenses claim regarding an assistant’s charitable donation. The paper pleaded a Reynolds defence. The claimant said that when published the defendant knew . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Defamation, Litigation Practice

Updated: 29 May 2022; Ref: scu.184761