The butterfly & the chrysalis: Serafin v Malkiewicz and others

In brief

• Serafin v Malkiewicz and others: much-needed guidance on the ‘public interest’ defence to the publication of defamatory statements.

Some judgments are more memorable than others: some because they’re a good read (anything by Lord Denning or Lord Sumption); some for their colourful facts; some for the light shed on the workings of our justice system. The majority, however, are remembered for their contribution to the common law and the legal principles they clarify. Lord Wilson’s Serafin (respondent) v Malkiewicz and others (appellants) [2020] UKSC 23 exemplifies all the above, but will chiefly be remembered for giving the new statutory public interest defence the chance to spread its wings and fly.

The judgment, handed down last month, is the Supreme Court’s second ruling in as many years on the ambit of the 2013 Defamation Act (last year Lord Sumption delivered Lachaux v Independent Print