Lord Bridge of Harwich said that: ‘In a free democratic society it is almost too obvious to need stating that those who hold office in government and who are responsible for public administration must always be open to criticism. Any attempt to stifle or fetter such criticism amounts to political censorship of the most insidious and objectionable kind.’ and ‘it would on any view be a grave impediment to the freedom of the press if those who print, or a fortiori those who distribute, matter reflecting critically on the conduct of public authorities could only do so with impunity if they could first verify the accuracy of all statements of fact on which the criticism was based.’ and ‘To repeat what I have said already, free speech means speech hedged in by all the laws against defamation, blasphemy, sedition and so forth, ie freedom governed by law. It is equally important that freedom of the Press does not mean that a newspaper has licence to publish what it wants, when it wants, about whom it wants, and how it wants in any improper, mischievous or illegal manner: it is not limitless.,br />This decision must not be taken as authority for a newspaper to publish anything it wishes, eg however pornographic, or untruthfully subversive, or race-hatred inspiring. If a newspaper publishes material which is improper, mischievous, or illegal, it must take the consequences if the result is illegal.’
Judges:
Lord Bridge of Harwich
Citations:
[1990] 2 AC 312, [1990] 2 WLR 606, [1990] 2 All ER 103
Jurisdiction:
Commonwealth
Cited by:
Cited – George Worme Grenada Today Limited v The Commissioner of Police PC 29-Jan-2004
PC (Grenada) The defendant was editor of a newspaper which carried a story severely defamatory of the prime minister. He was convicted of criminal libel, and appealed.
Held: The appeal was dismissed. The . .
Cited – Mohamed, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No 4) Admn 4-Feb-2009
In an earlier judgment, redactions had been made relating to reports by the US government of its treatment of the claimant when held by them at Guantanamo bay. The claimant said he had been tortured and sought the documents to support his defence of . .
Cited – Goldsmith and Another v Bhoyrul and Others QBD 20-Jun-1997
A political party is not to have the power to sue in defamation proceedings. Such a power would operate against public policy in that it would restrict democratic debate.
Buckley J said that the principle that a local authority may not sue in . .
Cited – Tilbrook v Parr QBD 13-Jul-2012
The claimant, chair of a political party, the English Democrats, said that a blog written and published on the Internet by the defendant was defamatory and contained malicious falsehoods. The blog was said to associate the claimant’s party with . .
Cited – Derbyshire County Council v Times Newspapers Ltd and Others HL 18-Feb-1993
Local Council may not Sue in Defamation
Local Authorities must be open to criticism as political and administrative bodies, and so cannot be allowed to sue in defamation. Such a right would operate as ‘a chill factor’ on free speech. Freedom of speech was the underlying value which . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Media, Human Rights
Updated: 13 May 2022; Ref: scu.192652