shady lady
Courtier
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2021
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- 517
- City
- The South West
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- United Kingdom
As expected, it was a mixed ruling, so both the Duke and the Mirror can claim some vindication.
Going forward, Harry has to be mindful of his court cases. Suing newspapers in cases that have merit such as phone hacking or obvious defamation is different from suing them for honest opinions in matters of public interest, which are viable defenses against libel accusations in British law.
Even though freedom of the press is not quite as protected in the UK as in the US, British judges are mindful of its importance and it is unlikely that they will rule in Harry's favor in matters that involve reasonable opinion or interpretation of the facts, even when that opinion might turn out to be defamatory in the common law.
In other words, what I am trying to say (and is unrelated to the hacking case in discussion) is that Harry cannot sue newspapers whenever they publish something about him with which he disagrees. That is not reasonable and, if a pattern like that emerges, he risks being shut down by the courts.
Yes, that is very important. It's one thing to be the victim of a terrible practice like phone hacking, with which we can all sympathise, but it doesn't justify trying to suppress freedom of speech, facts and opinions.
I note that in PH's statement via his lawyer, he said:
"Today is a great day for truth as well as accountability"
A tad ironic considering he himself has proved to have been economical with the truth - see my linked article in post #1095 for some examples of this. I suppose when he says "truth" he means his truth
PH needs to be mindful that the importance of the truth applies to everyone, and no one should be exempt from accountability, him included.
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