The defendant wrote to a newspaper alleging that ‘in the case of two if not three departments of our Manchester city council, bribery and corruption have existed and done their nefarious work.’
Held: The claim disclosed no cause of action. A corporation may sue for a libel affecting property, but not for one merely affecting personal reputation.
Day J said (Times): ‘This action is brought by the mayor, aldermen, and citizens of the city of Manchester to recover damages from the defendant in respect of that which is alleged by them to be a libel on the corporation. The alleged libel is contained in a letter written by the defendant to the editor of the ‘Manchester Examiner and Times’, which charged, as alleged by the statement of claim, that bribery and corruption existed or had existed in three departments of the Manchester City Council, and that the plaintiffs were either parties thereto or culpably ignorant thereof, and that the said bribery and corruption prevailed to such an extent as to render necessary an inquiry by a parliamentary commission. Now it is for us to determine whether a corporation can bring such an action, and I must say that, to my mind, to allow such a thing would be wholly unprecedented and contrary to principle. A corporation may sue for a libel affecting property, not for one merely affecting personal reputation. This does not fall within the class of case in respect of which a corporation can maintain an action, but does fall within the second class commented on by Pollock C.B. in his judgment in the case of the Metropolitan Saloon Omnibus Co. Ltd. v. Hawkins, 4 H. and N. 87, with which I fully agree . .
The charge in the present case is one of bribery and corruption, of which a corporation cannot possibly be guilty, and therefore, in my opinion, this action will not lie.’
Lawrance J agreed.
Judges:
Day, Lawrance JJ
Citations:
[1891] 1 QB 94, (1891) 63 LT 805
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
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.
Defamation, Local Government
Updated: 12 July 2022; Ref: scu.445473