*/
Libel and slander – Fair comment. The first claimant well-known singer and television personality, and the second defendant professional footballer issued defamation proceedings against the defendant for an article published in its newspaper and on its website. The newspaper sought a determination that the words complained of were not capable of bearing the meaning attributed to them by the claimants. The Queen's Bench Division held that the two meanings pleaded by the first claimant were in fact one, which was defamatory and a statement of fact. The words complained of, in so far as they referred to the second claimant, bore a meaning which was substantially that which he attributed to them.
Libel and slander – Fair comment. The first claimant well-known singer and television personality, and the second defendant professional footballer issued defamation proceedings against the defendant for an article published in its newspaper and on its website. The newspaper sought a determination that the words complained of were not capable of bearing the meaning attributed to them by the claimants. The Queen's Bench Division held that the two meanings pleaded by the first claimant were in fact one, which was defamatory and a statement of fact. The words complained of, in so far as they referred to the second claimant, bore a meaning which was substantially that which he attributed to them.
The Chair of the Bar reports back
By Kem Kemal, CEO, Henry Dannell
By BSK Financial Planning
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs
Susie Griffin on the admin that keeps barristers from billable work
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, explains how global events can influence the performance of pensions and ISAs, and why taking a long-term approach to investing is often the most effective strategy
Kick off your career at the Bar Council’s Pupillage Fair this October – it’s one of the most valuable opportunities for aspiring barristers, says Amelia Clegg
Join us on Saturday 21 November 2026 at Leeds Beckett University and see for yourself why the North continues to be an exceptional place to build a career at the Bar
The golden age of advocacy? David Langwallner pays homage to the filmic if contentious barrister Sir Edward Carson and some of his contemporaries
Henry Fingerhut outlines what the Bar Standards Board AI guidance means for early career barristers
Not yet, says Jacob Turner. Regulation, unlike the technology itself, is a domain the legal profession can still control
