Procedure – Preliminary Issue Hearing – No Parties
Trial as to meaning of articles complained of.
Held: The court set out the procedure it was to adopt: ‘In this case, the parties consented to the Court determining the meaning, without a hearing, based on written submissions. Of course, their consent does not resolve the important issues of open justice that Tugendhat J identified. This is the first time that the Court has dealt with a preliminary issue in this way, but I consider that these concerns can also be overcome by the Court adopting the following procedure:
i) the Court will consider the written submissions of the parties and prepare a judgment to be handed down;
ii) the draft judgment will be circulated to the parties in the normal way;
iii) the case will be listed, in open court, for judgment to be handed down; and
iv) at the hand-down, together with copies of the judgment, the Court will make available of all written submissions that were considered by the Court before making the determination.
That is the process that I shall adopt in this case.’
The Honourable Mr Justice Nicklin
[2019] EWHC 650 (QB)
Bailii
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Ware v Wimborne-Idrissi and Others QBD 13-Aug-2021
Judgment after a trial of preliminary issues relating to the meaning of the words complained of in a claim for libel. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Defamation, Litigation Practice
Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.635966
