Makudi v Baron Triesman of Tottenham [2014] EWCA Civ 179
Court of Appeal, Civil Division, Laws, Tomlinson and Rafferty LJJ, 26 February 2014
A claim in defamation was brought against the defendant for repeating at an extra-Parliamentary inquiry his evidence before a Parliamentary committee. It was held he was immune from the claim, by virtue of Art 9 of the Bill of Rights 1689.
Andrew Goddard QC and Simon Crawshaw (instructed by Watson Farley & Williams LLP) for the claimant. Andrew Caldecott QC and Clare Kissin (instructed by Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP) for the defendant.
The defendant was the former chairman of the English Football Association (the FA) and of the England 2018 Football World Cup bid. In May 2011, he gave evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the House of Commons (the CMSC), during the course of which he made allegations that members of the FIFA executive committee had been unduly influenced by improper behaviour. After the hearing, the FA appointed a QC to conduct a review for the purpose of looking into the defendant’s
