An inferential house of cards - serious financial loss under section 1(2) Defamation Act 2013: Burki v Seventy Thirty Ltd & Ors [2018] EWHC 2151 (QB)

摘要

Section 1 of the Defamation Act 2013 had two aims. First, it aimed to raise the test for establishing that a statement is defamatory above the preexisting common law's threshold. In order to do so, section 1 (1) provides that 'a statement is not defamatory unless its publication has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the reputation of the claimant.' Second, the section aimed to raise the bar to claims still further for commercial claimants. This aim was reflected in section 1(2), which provides that 'harm to the reputation of a body that trades for profit is not "serious harm" unless it has caused or is likely to cause the body serious financial loss.' These provisions were justified by the coalition government of the day as necessary reforms designed to give greater prominence to free speech interests within the law of defamation, and to protect ordinary people from being crushed by libel claims brought by big businesses.