KB-2023-003636 - [2025] EWHC 2043 (KB)

Section 1(1) of the Defamation Act 2013 states:

“A statement is not defamatory unless its publication has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the reputation of the claimant.”

This requires an enquiry into the facts of the impact of the publication to determine whether there has been some historic harm which actually occurred as a result of the publication, or whether, as a matter of fact, it is likely to cause actual harm in the future. It is thus not sufficient to establish that the words of the publication were liable to cause harm: Lachaux v Independent Print Ltd [2019] UKSC 27; [2020] AC 612 per Lord Sumption at [12] and [14] – [15].