Shevill v Presse Alliance SA
In a cross border defamation claim, the victim may sue the publisher either where it is established, for all the damage, or in each state where the publication was distributed and the victim's reputation harmed, for the damage in that state.
Facts
France-Soir, a French newspaper with a small circulation in England, published an article which suggested that Ms Shevill, an English woman who had worked at a bureau de change in Paris, was involved in drug money laundering. She sued the publisher for libel in England, in respect of the copies distributed there. The publisher argued that the English courts had no jurisdiction, because the harmful event had occurred in France, where the newspaper was published.
Legal principle
The Court of Justice held that, under article 5(3) of the Brussels Convention, which gives jurisdiction to the courts of the place where the harmful event occurred, the victim of a libel by a newspaper article distributed in several contracting states may bring an action for damages against the publisher either before the courts of the state where the publisher is established, which have jurisdiction to award damages for all the harm caused, or before the courts of each state in which the publication was distributed and where the victim claims to have suffered injury to her reputation, which have jurisdiction to rule solely in respect of the harm caused in that state. The rule was later extended to internet publications in eDate Advertising.
Related cases on jurisdiction and forum non conveniens
- Altimo Holdings and Investment Ltd v Kyrgyz Mobil Tel Ltd [2011] UKPC 7, [2012] 1 WLR 1804
- Connelly v RTZ Corp plc [1998] AC 854
- Erich Gasser GmbH v MISAT Srl Case C-116/02, [2003] ECR I-14693
- FS Cairo (Nile Plaza) LLC v Brownlie [2021] UKSC 45, [2022] AC 995
- Lubbe v Cape plc [2000] 1 WLR 1545
- Okpabi v Royal Dutch Shell plc [2021] UKSC 3, [2021] 1 WLR 1294
- Owusu v Jackson Case C-281/02, [2005] ECR I-1383
- Provimi Ltd v Aventis Animal Nutrition SA [2003] EWHC 961 (Comm)
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