header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
05 March 2010 / Keith Schilling
Issue: 7407 / Categories: Blogs , Media
printer mail-detail

Book review: Duncan and Neill on Defamation

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.

Since the first edition of Duncan and Neill in 1978 the libel landscape has changed dramatically and looks set to continue doing so.

Sir Brian Neill, Richard Rampton QC, Heather Rogers QC, Timothy Atkinson, Aidan Eardley

LexisNexis; 3rd edition (Aug 2009) £195.00

ISBN: 978-0406178312

Since the first edition of Duncan and Neill in 1978 the libel landscape has changed dramatically and looks set to continue doing so. 

Juries are no longer “in the position of sheep loosed on an unfenced common, with no shepherd” as Lord Bingham famously described them.

More detailed directions are now commonplace and jury awards correspondingly smaller than in their zenith in the 1980s; to the considerable relief of the popular press. Indeed juries these days are rarely permitted to make an appearance at all as by a promiscuous interpretation of s 69 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 many cases are now regarded as too “complex” for juries; similarly juries have all but been abolished in cases where the Reynolds defence is the main issue since it is for a judge to decide whether that

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gateley Legal expands Midlands residential development team

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Gibson Dunn adds employee benefits and executive compensation practice in London with partner Richard Surtees

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron

Laytons ETL appoints new partner and head of intellectual property disputes

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Property cases reshape established principles
A series of recent decisions has clarified important principles across property law, from perpetuities to lease renewals and public rights over land
NLJ this week: Stress ruling raises the bar for employers
Employers cannot rely on wellbeing services alone to defend workplace stress claims after a High Court decision awarding almost £1m to an overworked employee
NLJ this week: Can Manchesterism revive access to justice?
Andy Burnham's brand of 'Manchesterism' could offer fresh thinking on legal aid and access to justice if it reaches Westminster, according to Roger Smith, NLJ columnist and former director of JUSTICE
NLJ this week: Constitutional conventions tested as power changes hands
The constitutional fallout from a change of prime minister, rather than the politics, is under scrutiny as questions arise over the limits of executive authority in a leadership transition
NLJ this week: Lawyers must become product designers
The legal profession is undergoing a fundamental shift from selling services to creating technology-enabled products, according to Professor Luke Mason, Head of School of Law at Regent's University London
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll