What to do if your arrest has been reported in the press
If you had been arrested and your arrest has been reported by the police, you may be able to take down the news reports and sue the police for defamation and for breach of your right to private life.
Suing the police for defamation in the UK
How to bring a claim for defamation against the police
How can reporting someone’s arrest by the police be considered defamation
Suing the police for defamation in the UK
Suing the police for defamation in the UK can be a complex and challenging process. In general, defamation occurs when a person makes a false statement about another person that causes harm to their reputation. Defamation can take the form of either libel or slander, with libel being written defamation and slander being spoken defamation. In the context of suing the police for defamation, the situation may arise where the police have made a false statement about an individual that has caused harm to their reputation. This could occur, for example, if the police released a statement to the press that wrongly accused an individual of committing a crime.
How to you bring a claim for defamation against the police
To bring a defamation claim against the police, an individual would need to demonstrate that the police had made a false statement about them that was communicated to at least one other person and that the statement had caused harm to their reputation. The individual would also need to prove that the statement was not privileged, meaning that the police did not have a valid reason for making the statement. It is important to note that there are several potential barriers to bringing a successful defamation claim against the police.
One of the main challenges is that the police may be protected by qualified privilege, which provides immunity from liability for statements made in the course of their duties. However, this protection is not absolute, and if it can be shown that the police acted maliciously or recklessly in making the statement, then the protection of qualified privilege may not apply.
Another potential barrier is that the police may have access to more resources and legal expertise than the individual bringing the claim, making it more difficult to mount a successful challenge. For this reason, in some cases, Cohen Davis can offer clients who had been defamed by the police to take their case to court on a no win no fee basis. Overall, suing the police for defamation in the UK can be a difficult and complex process. It is important to seek legal advice from a qualified lawyer with experience in defamation law to determine whether a claim is likely to be successful and to guide you through the process.
How can reporting someone’s arrest by the police be considered defamation
Defamation by innuendo could occur in the context of reporting someone being arrested by the police. Defamation by innuendo occurs when a statement that is not explicitly defamatory can be interpreted by a reasonable person as having a defamatory meaning. In the context of reporting someone being arrested by the police in the UK, defamation by innuendo can occur if the way in which the report is written implies that the individual is guilty of the crime they have been arrested for, even if no such statement is explicitly made.
