Questions of Truth: Fifty-one Responses to Questions about God, Science, and Belief

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In Ames v Spamhaus [2015] EWHC 127 (QB), handed down in January 2015, Warby J (who had been appointed the year before to replace Sir Michael Tugendhat as the primary specialist media law judge) was careful not to contradict Cooke, but his judgment suggested that the circumstances in which serious harm could be inferred (without evidence) might be more common. A degree of uncertainty amongst practitioners persisted. You are at court to be asked questions about what you have said in your statement to assist the court arrive at the truth. Whether a particular statement is one of fact or comment is typically determined at a meaning hearing.

summary and overview six years on Defamation Act 2013: A summary and overview six years on

It really is difficult to overemphasise the importance of making it clear that facts of information and belief (and not within your own personal knowledge), indicating the source for any matters of information and belief. It's an important distinction to make, because one is direct evidence, the other is not. The relationship between the government and the press has been getting tighter since the 1980s. This is partly thanks to the overweening power of Rupert Murdoch, and the image management that developed in response. Spin doctors such as Alastair Campbell, Andy Coulson, Tom Baldwin, Robbie Gibb and Seumas Milne typically move from the media into party politics, weakening the division between the two. The Court of Appeal gave guidance on the operation of the section 4 defence in Serafin v Malkiewicz & Ors [2019] EWCA Civ 852. In overturning the decision at first instance, it noted that consideration must be given to a claimant’s Article 8 ECHR right to reputation and the damage to reputation that would be caused by publication. In addition, when considering whether or not an article is in the public interest the court should consider “not merely the bare subject-matter, but also the context, timing, tone, seriousness and all other relevant factors”. The Defendant has obtained permission to appeal to the Supreme Court and the appeal will be heard on 17 and 18 March 2020. In every case, the court will want to know why the application is made, and most likely what uses to which the witness statement will be put, if access is granted.Courts have long recognised that it is difficult to tell whether a witness is telling the truth or not. Courts can take into account any material before the court, and the behaviour of the witness in court.

Question of Truth: Christianity and Homosexuality: Gareth Question of Truth: Christianity and Homosexuality: Gareth

a number of adjectives and adverbs have been inserted into the Claimant's meaning which are not part of the natural and ordinary meaning of the words. They are strained constructions of what is being said in the [publication]. For example, if an individual reader thought that the Claimant's alleged behaviour was 'selfish', that would be a personal judgment made by the individual reader. It is neither stated nor implied in the text. Such inferential meanings (that depend upon - and vary between - each individual reader's moral judgment) are not part of the natural and ordinary meaning of words: Brown -v- Bower [54]. In context, a suggestion that the conduct of the Claimant was 'selfish' would be an expression of an opinion. If such an opinion is expressly stated by the author, then it can readily be identified as such by readers. I find the notion of an 'inferred opinion' conceptually difficult. I suppose it is conceivable that an article may not make express an author's view, but it nevertheless emerges clearly as a result of discernible indications in the text as to what his or her opinion actually is on the given facts. But this is very subjective; and it may be difficult to separate out those cases from cases where what is really happening is simply that the reader is supplying his or her own judgment on the stated facts rather than detecting the author's opinion by implication." When preparing your witness statement it's a good rule of thumb to exhibit documents to the witness statement which support the facts you state. Although it sounds silly, "lay evidence" and "lay witness statements" is evidence given by a person who is not appointed as an expert witness in the proceedings. To tell the difference between expert evidence and lay evidence, here's the terminology: Statements of case are prepared by parties to allege facts of the case on which they rely to succeed in their legal claim: their cause of action.The financial obstacles confronting critical, independent, investigative media are significant. If the Johnson administration takes a more sharply populist turn, the political obstacles could increase, too – Channel 4 is frequently held up as an enemy of Brexit, for example. But let us be clear that an independent, professional media is what we need to defend at the present moment, and abandon the misleading and destructive idea that – thanks to a combination of ubiquitous data capture and personal passions – the truth can be grasped directly, without anyone needing to report it. I found the Beale-Polkinghorne explanation of natural evil (tsunamis and earthquakes that drown or crush tens of thousands, childhood cancers, and other marks of benign providence) as disgusting, though it is novel, as any that other apologists trot out. They say that the deity allows natural evils to happen because "he" has given creation "freedom to be and to make itself" - thus imputing free will to "creation" to explain natural evil in the same way as moral evil is imputed to the free will of humans. Heroic stuff. The conclusions and opinions that I come to below is sourced from a wide variety of disputes in civil proceedings. I don’t pretend that there is only one way to draft a witness statement. Each witness statement will depend upon the circumstances in which is it is required. Each party had their own witnesses which they would call to court to give evidence in their favour. Their oral testimony for the party that calls them is known as their "evidence in chief". After they gave their evidence in chief, the opposing party would then have an opportunity to cross-examine them. Bare statements of fact setting out a chronology of events is, well, better than nothing. But it has little weight. There is no independent evidence to support what you say. Documentary Support for Witness Statements

Questions of Truth: Fifty-one Responses to Questions about Questions of Truth: Fifty-one Responses to Questions about

This transformation in our recording equipment is responsible for much of the outrage directed at those formerly tasked with describing the world. The rise of blanket surveillance technologies has paradoxical effects, raising expectations for objective knowledge to unrealistic levels, and then provoking fury when those in the public eye do not meet them. The court rules allow statements of case (such as particulars of claim or a defence) to be used as a matter of convenience. If an issue is dispute between the parties, a judge will be looking to receive independent evidence from the party to satisfy the burden of proof. Not rely on what is said in a statement of case. It is not for witnesses to express opinions or arguments. Sure explain the evidence presented if it does not make sense. The Act had introduced an additional test under section 1(2) that applies to a body trading for profit, namely a requirement to show that a statement has caused or is likely to cause serious financial loss. By contrast, this provision has seen relatively little scrutiny. In Brett Wilson LLP v Persons Unknown [2015] EWHC 2628 (QB) (see our blog here) Warby J noted that whether financial loss is “serious” must depend upon the context. In the handful of cases in which the court has had to consider financial loss, judges have been prepared to draw inferences where appropriate. In Euroeco Fuels (Poland) Ltd & Ors v Szczecin And Swinoujscie Seaports Authority SA & Ors [2018] EWHC 1081 (QB) Nicol J noted that Parliament had not intended to limit 'serious financial loss' to special damage, and that was no reason why financial loss, like other forms of serious harm, was not capable of being inferred from evidence.So - whether you're planning to hold a boozy games night and want to host the quiz of all quizzes, or you're heading down to your local pub for their weekly quiz evening and you've got your eyes on the prize (and the free drinks tokens), then look no further.

uk PRACTICE DIRECTION 25B – THE DUTIES OF AN - Justice.gov.uk

Warby J noted in Barron MP & Anor v Vines (Rev 1) [2015] EWHC 1161 (QB) (see our blog here) that the section 4 defence is also potentially available to protect expressions of opinion (such as on political matters) even where the section 3 defence of honest opinion is not available, although it is hard to envisage circumstances where that would happen. Although it may be obvious, your witness statement may be one of many in the legal proceedings. State why the witness statement has been prepared. You will also save the judge some aggravation by having to work it out for themselves. Statements of truth used for expert evidence differ. The reason is that experts owe an overriding duty to the court. More on that below.Four Olympic gold medals. He first was at the London 2012 Olympic games when he finished the 10,000m in a time of 27:30.42. He won gold the same year for the Men's 5,000m, which he completed in 13:41:66. At the Rio 2016 Olympics, he won another gold medal for the 10,000m, and a fourth gold medal for the 5,000m. Traditionally, it is through these systems, which are grounded in written testimonies and public statements, that we have learned what is going on in the world. But in the past 20 years, this patchwork of record-keeping has been supplemented and threatened by a radically different system, which is transforming the nature of empirical evidence and memory. One term for this is “big data”, which highlights the exponential growth in the quantity of data that societies create, thanks to digital technologies. If the witness statement is made for a company which is say the second defendant in the case, it would read like this: Finally, at the same time you sign the statement of truth, you must verify that each exhibit is authentic. You do so by signing (or writing and signing) a statement on the exhibit cover sheet.