Reynolds v Times Newspapers Limited [2001] 2 AC 127

Under Reynolds v Times Newspapers Limited [2001] 2 AC 127, to avail themselves of the defence the defendant needed to show: (i) the publication was on a matter of general interest; (ii) publication of the defamatory statement was justifiable as a contribution to the discussion of the matter concerned; and (iii) they had met the requirements of responsible journalism. To determine whether the defendant had met the ‘responsible journalism’ condition, Lord Nicholls provided non-exhaustive criteria for judges to consider when making their assessment. These included: (i) the ‘seriousness of the allegation’; (ii) the ‘source of the information’; (iii) ‘the steps taken to verify the information’; (iv) ‘[w]hether comment was sought from the [claimant]’; and (v) the ‘tone of the article’.