Braddock v Bevins: CA 1948

Mr. Bevins’ election address at a local election was the subject of qualified privilege in a defamation action.
Held: The court applied the classic requirements necessary to confer qualified privilege.
Lord Greene MR said: ‘A defamatory statement published by or on behalf of a candidate in any election to a local government authority or to Parliament shall not be deemed to be published on a privileged occasion on the ground that it is material to a question in issue in the election, whether or not the person by whom it is published is qualified to vote at the election.’ It was necessary for the welfare of society that there should be a frank exchange of information and opinions on matters relating to the exercise of the franchise by the electorate
References: [1948] 1 KB 580
Judges: Lord Greene MR
Jurisdiction: England and Wales
This case is cited by:

  • Cited – Reynolds v Times Newspapers Ltd and others HL 28-Oct-1999
    Fair Coment on Political Activities
    The defendant newspaper had published articles wrongly accusing the claimant, the former Prime Minister of Ireland of duplicity. The paper now appealed, saying that it should have had available to it a defence of qualified privilege because of the . .
    (Times 29-Oct-99, Gazette 25-Nov-99, Gazette 17-Nov-99, , , [2001] 2 AC 127, [1999] UKHL 45, [1999] 4 All ER 609, [1999] 3 WLR 1010, [2000] EMLR 1, [2000] HRLR 134, 7 BHRC 289)

These lists may be incomplete.
Last Update: 27 November 2020; Ref: scu.194514