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England and Wales High Court (King's Bench Division) Decisions |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales High Court (King's Bench Division) Decisions >> FKJ v RVT & Ors [2023] EWHC 3 (KB) (11 January 2023) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/KB/2023/3.html Cite as: [2023] EWHC 3 (KB) |
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KING'S BENCH DIVISION
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
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FKJ |
Claimant |
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- and - |
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RVT and Others |
Defendant |
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Mr Christopher Knight (instructed by Bloomsbury Law) for the Defendants
Hearing date: 8 December 2022
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Crown Copyright ©
Master Davison:
Introduction
Strike-out of the claim
"46. The Court has jurisdiction to stay or strike out a claim where no real or substantial wrong has been committed and litigating the claim will yield no tangible or legitimate benefit to the claimant proportionate to the likely costs and use of court procedures: in other words, "the game is not worth the candle": Jameel [69]-[70] per Lord Phillips MR; Schellenberg v BBC [2000] EMLR 296, 319 per Eady J. The jurisdiction is useful where a claim "is obviously pointless or wasteful": Vidal-Hall v Google Inc [2016] QB 1003 [136] per Lord Dyson MR. Although Jameel was a defamation claim (and defamation claims present particular features) the jurisdiction is of general application: Sullivan v Bristol Film Studios Limited [2012] EMLR 27 and has been held to extend to malicious falsehood claims: Niche Products [63] and c.f. Tesla Motors [47]-[49].
47. Nevertheless, the Jameel jurisdiction to strike out claims as abusive ought to be reserved for exceptional cases: Stelios Haji-Ioannou v Dixon [2009] EWHC 178 (QB) [30] per Sharp J. Courts should not be too ready to conclude that continued litigation of the claim would be disproportionate to what could legitimately be achieved. The conclusion must be that it is impossible "to fashion any procedure by which that claim can be adjudicated in a proportionate way": Ames v Spamhaus Project Ltd [2015] 1 WLR 3409 [33]-[36] per Warby J citing Sullivan v Bristol Film Studios [29]–[32] per Lewison LJ.
48. In defamation actions, an important factor in the assessment of the value of what is sought to be achieved by the proceedings is usually the element of vindication that the claimant hopes to obtain: see the discussion in Alsaifi - Trinity Mirror plc [2019] EMLR 1 [42]-[43]. But the principle has a more general application beyond "vindication" in the defamation sense. In Alsaifi, I described it as follows [45]: "… The Court cannot strike out a claim for a £50 debt simply because, assessed against the costs of the claim, it is not 'worth' pursuing. Inherent in the value of any legitimate claim is the right to have a legal wrong redressed. The value of vindicating legal rights – as part of the rule of law – goes beyond the worth of the claim. The fair resolution of legal disputes benefits not only the individual litigants but society as a whole."
The applications for summary judgment on the counterclaim, for an interim payment (£250,000) and/or for conditions to be imposed requiring the claimant to pay money into court on account of the costs of the defendants' defending the claim (£350,000) and bringing the counterclaim (£100,000)
Summary judgment – the tort of malicious prosecution
The tort of abuse of process
"If the claimant's intention is that the result of victory in the action will be the defendant's downfall, then his purpose is not improper: for it is nothing other than to achieve victory in the action, with all such consequences as may flow from it. If, on the other hand, his intention is to secure the defendant's downfall—or some other disadvantage to the defendant or advantage to himself—by use of the proceedings otherwise than for the purpose for which they are designed, then his purpose is improper." (My emphasis.)
Protection from Harassment Act 1997
Conclusion on the summary judgment application
Interim payment and conditions
Miscellaneous
Note 1 I note that in Gulati v MGN [2015] EWCA Civ 1291 the Court of Appeal upheld first instance damages awards of between £55,000 and £110,000 for acts of unauthorised accessing of voicemails, before any adjustment for aggravated damages, with additional damages awards for each act of disclosure of the information to the public. [Back] Note 2 To be fair to the defendants, this deeply unattractive point was not put forward as a freestanding ground of abuse of process, but, rather, to “assist consideration of the Jameel and Henderson arguments”. [Back] Note 3 And therefore had “reasonable and proper cause”. [Back]