Can defamation case be brought through small claims court?

[miho]

Hi all

I have just received a claim for damages to reputation through the County Court Money Claims Centre. I didn't think defamation cases could be brought through the small claims court - is this not correct?

[Amethyst]

They can if both parties agree - otherwise they need to go through the high court. Can you post the Particulars of Claim please and the amount being claimed - it is likely you will be wanting to apply to have the claim struck out - I'll grab some details for you. The relevant CPR is PD 53 and CPR 7 (2.9)

2.9 The following proceedings may not be started in the County Court unless the parties have agreed otherwise in writing:

(1) a claim for damages or other remedy for libel or slander, and

[miho]

Thanks for your reply - very helpful.

£1000 is being claimed for harm caused by false accusations made against this individual - the claim doesn't explicitly mention slander or libel. There is more of a back story to this, but it would probably be best to share this in the VIP section rather than in an open forum.

How would I go about getting this claim struck out?

[Amethyst]

It would be an application to the court on form N244 https://www.gov.uk/government/public...ication-notice which costs £255 to lodge.

This is just by way of an example - it will obviously depend on the actual case and the particulars of claim, and any pre-action stuff that's gone on before you received the claim, but this should give you a general idea.

Continuation sheet 1:
CLAIM NO: XXXXX

3.

An order (a draft of which is attached) that Summary Judgment be granted in favour of the Defendant pursuant to Part 24 CPR and/or the claimant's claim be struck out because the claimant has no real prospect of succeeding on the claim and there is no other compelling reason why there should be a trial.

In the alternative, an order under CPR part 3 that the Claimants claim be struck out as it is an abuse of the Court process and fails to comply with the requirements of CPR 16 and CPR 53 PD 53 and therefore the Court should exercise its powers under CPR 3.4(2)(b) or (c). The statement of case also discloses no reasonable grounds for bringing the claim and should be struck out under CPR 3.4(2)(a)

If the claimant wishes to rely on written evidence, he must file and serve copies on each party at least 7 days before any hearing date set by the court.

In the Northampton County Court Business Centre

Claim No. XXXXX


xxxxxxxxxxxx
Claimant (Respondent)

and

xxxxxxxxx
Defendant (Applicant)

Dated 30th December 2015

-------------------------------------
WITNESS STATEMENT OF THE APPLICANT
------------------------------------

I, xxxxxxxxxxxx, of xxxxxaddressxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx , am the Defendant (Applicant) and make this statement in support of my application in this case.

1: I received the claim on xxxxxxxxxx 2015 from the Northampton County Court Business Centre. I Acknowledged receipt of the claim via the Moneyclaim online service on xxxxxxxxxx 2015.

2: The Claimants statement of case states ' Customer has posted a slanderous review'.

3. The statement of case is improperly and inadequately constituted in that it contains no indication as to the words complained of, the meaning attributed to those words, the method of publication, the place of publication and the extent of publication. ( CPR PD 53 (2.2.2) )

4: In addition, or alternatively, the statement of case fails to contain the words complained of, or identify the person to whom they were spoken and when
( CPR PD 53 (2.2.1) )

5. The statement of case fails to accurately and coherently quantify the sum claimed and fails to state how the sums for both loss and compensation have been attributed, apportioned and calculated.

6. The claimant has failed to comply with the relevant pre-action protocols for Defamation Claims (Defamation Act 2013)

7. In the absence of an agreement between the parties the claim is not within the jurisdiction of the County Court (CPR 7 (2.9.1) )

8. I therefore respectfully request that Summary Judgment be granted in favour of the Defendant pursuant to Part 24 CPR.

Statement of Truth

I believe that the facts stated in this statement are true.

Signed ………

xxxxxxxxxxx
(applicant) – Claim No. XXXXX

In the Northampton County Court Business Centre
Claim No. XXXXX


xxxxxxxx
Claimant (Respondent)

and

xxxxxxxxxx
Defendant (Applicant)

Dated xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

-------------------------------------
DRAFT ORDER
------------------------------------

On reading the written evidence filed by the Defendant in her application under Part 24 for summary judgment

On finding that the Claimant has no real prospect of succeeding on the claim and that there is no other reason why the claim should be disposed of by trial

IT IS ORDERED THAT:
There be judgment for the Defendant on the claim
The Claimant pay the Defendant's costs of the application to be £255.00.



Signed................................
Dated................................

[miho]

Thanks very much for the link and example. The claim is a total fabrication, so I'll see whether I can go down this route and get it thrown out.

[Amethyst]

Do you want to PM me the particulars of claim ? ( https://legalbeagles.info/forums/pmchat/chat to Amethyst )

[Amethyst]

Thank you for sending those.

There was no pre-action notice of this claim at all ?

It seems simply to be an intimidation attempt to force an apology and should be quite simple to have struck out.

[miho]

No, he didn't send a pre-action notice. As you say, this is very definitely an attempt to intimidate and hopefully we will have no problem with persuading the court to throw it out. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and the examples of a completed N244 form. I will let you know how it goes!

[Refinitiv]

Hi Miho, did you manage to get this claim sorted, was the claim struck out?

I have a similar claim as you which is part of a counterclaim accusing me of defamation in defence to a case.

Regards

[Amethyst]

Defamation can't be brought as a case in the county court - except by agreement between both parties - it should be brought in the high court and there's strict pre action procedures.

Do you have a thread about your case as you will need to defend the counterclaim but from what you've said it sound like someone's claimed against you, you've defended and they've put a counterclaim in reply to the defence ?? Not the right way to do things so will need a bit more info on the exact situation to be able to help.

[Refinitiv]

Hi Amethyst

I have started a new thread so I don't hijack Miho's thread.

https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...l-counterclaim

Regards

[sceptical]

Can 'Defamation' be dealt with at a 'Small Claims Court If both parties agree? - if so then could someone please advise me of the official name of this etc?

[EXC]

Can 'Defamation' be dealt with at a 'Small Claims Court If both parties agree? - if so then could someone please advise me of the official name of this etc?

See post #2. CPR means Civil Procedure Rules and PD means Practice Direction. These are the rules that govern litigation in the courts.