In Shakil-Ur-Raman v ARY [2016] EWHC 3110(QB) damages for defamation were only recoverable on the basis of TV broadcasts in the UK. Before the Defamation Act 2013 it was possible for a foreign claimant to claim damages for a single ‘publication’ in the UK and then recover damages based on the worldwide defamation. In this case the dispute was between two media moguls in Pakistan, one of whom produced a series of 24 TV programmes that repeatedly defamed the claimant. The programs were broadcast in the UK, but that was not the main broadcasting jurisdiction. The end result was that the claim for defamation succeeded, but damages were assessed on the basis of the UK defamation only.
Even though the defamation was extreme and the defendant had done nothing to withdraw the allegations or apologise, the award was a relatively small £185,000, a fraction of what might have been had the claimant been able to recover damages for the worldwide defamation.
