Is that the fat lady singing?: Burstein loses out in the House of Lords
The second defamation story from the last week concerns the rejection by the House of Lords of an attempt to appeal focused on the defence of fair comment on a matter of public interest. Composer Keith Burstein took action against the Evening Standard on account of its criticism of his opera, Manifest Destiny. Earlier this year, the Court of Appeal found that the newspaper could rely on the defence. The House of Lords considered, however, that the case "does not raise an arguable point of law of general public importance which ought to be considered by the House".
Having failed to persuade the House of Lords of the need to consider his arguments, Burstein is apparently now hoping to present his case before the European Court of Human Rights alleging that the refusal to permit him to put his case before a jury amounts to a denial of justice (1).
2 comments:
There has been a fair bit of follow-up coverage/comment to this case. During the recent time-period formerly known as the summer, it was suggested to Burstein that he should declare himself bankrupt. Most recently, ie today, The Independent is carrying a note on the seizure of all his papers by the Official Receiver effectively on behalf of Associated Newspapers.
...and more on Burstein from the Guardian
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