Author Description

The 11th edition has now been published. This is what I have saidabout it: WHERE REPUTATION AND CASE LAW COLLIDE A review by Phillip Taylor MBE, LL.B PGCE Barrister-at-Law Everyone has a reputation. Which is why this book, although specifically for the practitioner, should inevitably hold some fascination for non-practitioners as well, especially if they (like journalists and other media types for example) are concerned with the issues involved. At the moment, following some high profile cases, much of the world is reviewing reputation and how much it is worth in cash in the High Court in London. Defamation encompasses libel and slander, the torts with which this book is primarily concerned and which protect the reputation of the individual. As the editors point out in the introduction, the book also deals, (among myriad related matters) with ‘the closely related tort commonly known as malicious falsehood, with libel as a crime and with the complaints procedures alternative to a civil action which are open to a defamed person’. The in-depth coverage contained therein includes examination of substantive and procedural law and gives guidance on recent case law, developments in legal principles and relevant legislation and any changes to procedural aspects of practice. That this pivotal work is now going into its 11th edition is certainly an indicator of the priority individuals as well as organisations have attached to the matter of reputation down through the centuries. The table of cases is at least 130 pages long and includes every important case in this area since at least 1670. (Coryton v Lithbye). As this edition was published in November, 2008, you can also look up references to the latest decisions, such as Mosely v. News Group Newspapers Ltd. [2008], for example. Significant cases highlighted in this 11th edition include: • Jameel v Wall Street Journal Europe • Charman