This article comments on the Court of Appeal judgment handed down at 2pm on Friday 4th July 2014 in the group of cases with the neutral citation [2014] EWCA Civ 906. Given the name of the first listed case in the group, it may well come to be referred to as “Denton” as I refer to it herein.
References to Mitchell are of course references to Mitchell v News Group Newspapers Limited [2013] EWCA Civ 1537, [2014] 1 WLR 795. Paragraph references herein are references to the judgment paragraph number in Denton unless otherwise stated.
The Court of Appeal has formed the view that practitioners and judges alike have misunderstood and misapplied the judgement (and guidance) in Mitchell. Notwithstanding that assertion, the Court of Appeal maintains that the guidance it offered in Mitchell remains substantially sound. In the Denton judgment, it now seeks to amplify that guidance.