Carter-Ruck
Encyclopedia
Carter-Ruck is a British
law firm founded by Peter Carter-Ruck
.
According to their website they specialise in libel
, privacy
, international law
and commercial litigation.
The leading legal directories rank the firm in the top tier of defamation and media lawyers in the UK. Legal 500 describes Carter-Ruck as "pre-eminent in the field of defamation and privacy claimant work" as well as being "fair, balanced and professional" while also ranking the firm's public international law and media and entertainment work. Chambers Directory describes the firm as having "a first-class team that is incredibly well regarded for its claimant work, as well as a strong and ever-growing presence in corporate reputation management."
In December 2010 a new edition of the leading textbook "Carter-Ruck on Libel and Privacy" was published by Butterworths Lexis-Nexis.
The firm offers some of their services including libel actions and high-value commercial claims on a "no win, no fee" basis
.
in 1982 after his former partners in Oswald Hickson told him to retire.
Recent or current clients include the State of Qatar, Tesco plc, Sir Elton John, Simon Cowell
, Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens), Liam Gallagher
, Jude Law, Prince Radu of Romania, Frank Bruno
and Chelsea Football Club. The firm represents numerous MPs (including government ministers), MEPs and other political figures including a number of national governments and heads of state.
The firm's work recently featured in an episode of the BBC 1 documentary series "See You in Court
".
. Complaints were brought on behalf of the child’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, against The Daily Express, The Daily Star and their sister Sunday newspapers over untrue stories suggesting that the parents may have been involved in Madeleine’s abduction. The complaints led to the publication of unprecedented front-page apologies to Kate and Gerry McCann, in addition to the payment of £550,000 in damages, which was donated to the fund to find Madeleine.
Carter-Ruck also advised the so-called "Tapas 7" - the friends who were dining with the child's parents when she went missing. The complaints again led to the publication of an apology and the payment of £375,000 in damages, donated to the Find Madeleine Fund.
, and secured the publication of an apology for Speaker (now Lord) Martin by The Times. The firm acted on a "no win, no fee" basis and Lord Martin recovered his legal costs from the newspaper. It was reported that over £21,000 of public funds had been spent on employing Carter-Ruck to defend him against other newspaper reports that questioned whether he acted impartially in the House of Commons, although the House administration confirmed that they had endorsed the use of Carter-Ruck for that purpose..
published The Complex: An Insider Exposes the Covert World of the Church of Scientology
, a book critical of Scientology. Carter-Ruck citing defamation laws stopped Amazon.com
from publishing the book in Britain
.
In 2010, Carter-Ruck represented Scientology regarding the 28 September 2010 broadcast on "Secrets of Scientology" aired by BBC's Panorama
, claiming the journalist involved was biased.
Libel proceedings were brought against the BBC in 2009 after a broadcast of the current affairs programme Newsnight falsely suggested that Trafigura's actions caused a number of deaths, miscarriages and serious injuries. The BBC went on to broadcast an apology as the opening item on Newsnight. The BBC also apologised in a Statement in Open Court.
Corrections concerning Trafigura were also published by The Times, The Independent, and The Guardian.
In September 2009, The Guardian
reported that Carter-Ruck demanded it delete published articles relating to the Trafigura
toxic oil disaster, saying it was "gravely defamatory" and "untrue" to say that Trafigura's waste had been dumped cheaply and could have caused deaths and serious injuries. The Guardian later reported that Trafigura agreed to pay compensation to 31,000 West African victims. The Guardian also alleged that other media outlets in the Netherlands
and Norway
were also threatened with gagging orders.
These turned out to be NRK in Norway
, and De Volkskrant
and Greenpeace
in the Netherlands.
In October 2009, The Guardian
published an article stating that it had been prevented from reporting on a parliamentary matter, being "forbidden from telling its readers why the paper is prevented – for the first time in memory – from reporting parliament. Legal obstacles, which cannot be identified, involve proceedings, which cannot be mentioned, on behalf of a client who must remain secret. The only fact the Guardian can report is that the case involves the London solicitors Carter-Ruck." The paper further claimed that this case appears "to call into question privileges guaranteeing free speech established under the 1688 Bill of Rights
".
The question subject to the gagging order was from Paul Farrelly
, MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme
:
The following day the firm agreed to discharge the order preventing the reporting of the events, which concerned Trafigura
and a draft chemistry report into the oil slops incident in Côte d'Ivoire. Trafigura maintained that the report was a superseded draft report which was legally privileged and confidential, and that it had been obtained illegally and passed to The Guardian.
According to a press release on Carter-Ruck's website the reason that The Guardian could not report the question asked by Paul Farrelly was because a gagging order had been in place since 11 September 2009, before the MP asked the question. They also stated that it had never been their intention to prevent the press reporting on parliament and that they had since agreed on changes with The Guardian to the gagging order so that they could report on the issue. The firm also pointed out that The Guardian had in fact consented to the order preventing the newspaper from publishing any article about the chemistry report.
Subsequently, lawyers advising the Speaker of the House of Commons are reported to have agreed with Carter-Ruck's interpretation that the injunction as initially granted did prevent the press from reporting the Parliamentary question.
The Conservative MP, Peter Bottomley
reported the firm to the Law Society
due to their actions which prevented The Guardian covering parliamentary proceedings, however the Law Society did not uphold any complaint.
, former chairman of the Press Complaints Commission
(PCC) said that the PCC was the firm's "sworn enemy" and accused the firm of using a Commons select committee hearing to attack the PCC. He suggested that Carter-Ruck and other media law firms probably saw the PCC as their enemy because, "we can do the job for free and can provide a degree of discretion." Cameron Doley, managing partner with Carter-Ruck denied the accusations made against them.
The firm is frequently referred to as 'Carter-Fuck' by the satirical magazine Private Eye
. Despite their antagonistic relationship, Carter-Ruck publicly sided with Private Eye when the magazine lost a £600,000 libel case against Sonia Sutcliffe in 1989. Founder Peter Carter-Ruck
was subsequently invited to attend a Private Eye lunch, and soon afterwards he asked whether the magazine could stop misprinting the first letter of 'Ruck' as an 'F'. Private Eyes response was to print the first letter of 'Carter' with an 'F' as well.
. However, these criticisms have been challenged by leading media law academics Prof. Alastair Mullis and Dr Andrew Scott.
The most recent example of Carter-Ruck acting on behalf of a client to stifle criticism was reported in the Guardian newspaper on 19 January 2011. Carter-Ruck on behalf of Midland Pig Producers issued a warning letter to the Soil Association threaten libel proceedings after the SA objected to a MPP planning application. . Threatening such proceedings, which are rarely followed through, is a typical modus operandi of Carter-Ruck (and other law firms) to minimise scrutiny and adverse publicity of their clients.
and Reynolds Porter Chamberlain
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
law firm founded by Peter Carter-Ruck
Peter Carter-Ruck
Peter Frederick Carter-Ruck was an English lawyer, specialising in libel cases. The firm he founded, Carter-Ruck, is still practising.-Personal life:...
.
According to their website they specialise in libel
English defamation law
Modern libel and slander laws, as implemented in many Commonwealth nations as well as in the United States and in the Republic of Ireland, are originally descended from English defamation law...
, privacy
Privacy in English law
Privacy in English law is a rapidly developing area of English law that considers in what situations an individual has a legal right to informational privacy, that is to say the protection of personal information from misuse or unauthorised disclosure. Privacy law is distinct from those laws such...
, international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
and commercial litigation.
The leading legal directories rank the firm in the top tier of defamation and media lawyers in the UK. Legal 500 describes Carter-Ruck as "pre-eminent in the field of defamation and privacy claimant work" as well as being "fair, balanced and professional" while also ranking the firm's public international law and media and entertainment work. Chambers Directory describes the firm as having "a first-class team that is incredibly well regarded for its claimant work, as well as a strong and ever-growing presence in corporate reputation management."
In December 2010 a new edition of the leading textbook "Carter-Ruck on Libel and Privacy" was published by Butterworths Lexis-Nexis.
The firm offers some of their services including libel actions and high-value commercial claims on a "no win, no fee" basis
Contingent fee
A contingent fee or conditional fee is any fee for services provided where the fee is only payable if there is a favourable result...
.
Background
The firm was founded by Peter Carter-RuckPeter Carter-Ruck
Peter Frederick Carter-Ruck was an English lawyer, specialising in libel cases. The firm he founded, Carter-Ruck, is still practising.-Personal life:...
in 1982 after his former partners in Oswald Hickson told him to retire.
Notable clients and cases
Carter-Ruck’s clients include celebrities, politicians, corporations and leading political figures. The firm also acts for a number of heads of state and overseas governments.Recent or current clients include the State of Qatar, Tesco plc, Sir Elton John, Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...
, Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens), Liam Gallagher
Liam Gallagher
William John Paul "Liam" Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, the former frontman of the English rock band Oasis and currently of the band Beady Eye. Gallagher's erratic behaviour, distinctive singing style, and abrasive attitude have been the subject of commentary in the press...
, Jude Law, Prince Radu of Romania, Frank Bruno
Frank Bruno
Franklin Roy Bruno MBE is an English former boxer whose career highlight was winning the WBC Heavyweight championship in 1995. Altogether, he won 40 of his 45 contests...
and Chelsea Football Club. The firm represents numerous MPs (including government ministers), MEPs and other political figures including a number of national governments and heads of state.
The firm's work recently featured in an episode of the BBC 1 documentary series "See You in Court
See You in Court
See You In Court is a 2011 BBC One documentary series about celebrities taking libel action against the media.- Episode 1: 29 March 2011 :...
".
Madeleine McCann
The firm has been involved in several libel cases related to the missing child, Madeleine McCannDisappearance of Madeleine McCann
Madeleine McCann disappeared on the evening of Thursday, 3 May 2007. She was on holiday with her parents and twin siblings in the Algarve region of Portugal. The British girl went missing from an apartment, in the central area of the resort of Praia da Luz, a few days before her fourth...
. Complaints were brought on behalf of the child’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, against The Daily Express, The Daily Star and their sister Sunday newspapers over untrue stories suggesting that the parents may have been involved in Madeleine’s abduction. The complaints led to the publication of unprecedented front-page apologies to Kate and Gerry McCann, in addition to the payment of £550,000 in damages, which was donated to the fund to find Madeleine.
Carter-Ruck also advised the so-called "Tapas 7" - the friends who were dining with the child's parents when she went missing. The complaints again led to the publication of an apology and the payment of £375,000 in damages, donated to the Find Madeleine Fund.
Boris Berezovsky
Carter-Ruck has acted for Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky in a number of libel and other actions, including in the House of Lords against Forbes magazine, The Guardian and Russian state-owned broadcaster VGTRK.Henrik Thomsen
The firm defended a libel action brought against Danish radiologist Henrik Thomsen, who had questioned the safety of a contrast agent used in patients undergoing MRI scans, which was produced by GE Healthcare. The firm represented Thomsen on a “no win, no fee” basis.Michael Martin
Carter-Ruck acted for Michael Martin, the former Speaker of the British House of CommonsSpeaker of the British House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...
, and secured the publication of an apology for Speaker (now Lord) Martin by The Times. The firm acted on a "no win, no fee" basis and Lord Martin recovered his legal costs from the newspaper. It was reported that over £21,000 of public funds had been spent on employing Carter-Ruck to defend him against other newspaper reports that questioned whether he acted impartially in the House of Commons, although the House administration confirmed that they had endorsed the use of Carter-Ruck for that purpose..
Church of Scientology
In late 2008, John Duignan, a former ScientologistScientology
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
published The Complex: An Insider Exposes the Covert World of the Church of Scientology
The Complex: An Insider Exposes the Covert World of the Church of Scientology
The Complex: An Insider Exposes the Covert World of the Church of Scientology is a non-fiction book about the organization and practices of the Church of Scientology, written by former Scientologist John Duignan with Nicola Tallant. The book was published in Ireland on October 7, 2008 by Merlin...
, a book critical of Scientology. Carter-Ruck citing defamation laws stopped Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
from publishing the book in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
In 2010, Carter-Ruck represented Scientology regarding the 28 September 2010 broadcast on "Secrets of Scientology" aired by BBC's Panorama
Panorama (TV series)
Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme, which was first broadcast in 1953, and is the longest-running public affairs television programme in the world. Panorama has been presented by many well known BBC presenters, including Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day, David Dimbleby...
, claiming the journalist involved was biased.
Trafigura
Carter-Ruck was instructed by commodities trader Trafigura over press coverage relating to the discharge of oil 'slops' from a Trafigura-chartered tanker in the Ivory Coast in 2006.Libel proceedings were brought against the BBC in 2009 after a broadcast of the current affairs programme Newsnight falsely suggested that Trafigura's actions caused a number of deaths, miscarriages and serious injuries. The BBC went on to broadcast an apology as the opening item on Newsnight. The BBC also apologised in a Statement in Open Court.
Corrections concerning Trafigura were also published by The Times, The Independent, and The Guardian.
In September 2009, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
reported that Carter-Ruck demanded it delete published articles relating to the Trafigura
Trafigura
Trafigura is an Amsterdam-based multinational company founded in 1993 trading in base metals and energy, including oil. the company had equity of more than $2 billion and a turnover of $73 billion that generated $440 million of profit....
toxic oil disaster, saying it was "gravely defamatory" and "untrue" to say that Trafigura's waste had been dumped cheaply and could have caused deaths and serious injuries. The Guardian later reported that Trafigura agreed to pay compensation to 31,000 West African victims. The Guardian also alleged that other media outlets in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
were also threatened with gagging orders.
These turned out to be NRK in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, and De Volkskrant
De Volkskrant
de Volkskrant is a national daily Dutch morning newspaper, the leading centre-left broadsheet, although now in tabloid size.-History:...
and Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
in the Netherlands.
In October 2009, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
published an article stating that it had been prevented from reporting on a parliamentary matter, being "forbidden from telling its readers why the paper is prevented – for the first time in memory – from reporting parliament. Legal obstacles, which cannot be identified, involve proceedings, which cannot be mentioned, on behalf of a client who must remain secret. The only fact the Guardian can report is that the case involves the London solicitors Carter-Ruck." The paper further claimed that this case appears "to call into question privileges guaranteeing free speech established under the 1688 Bill of Rights
Bill of Rights 1689
The Bill of Rights or the Bill of Rights 1688 is an Act of the Parliament of England.The Bill of Rights was passed by Parliament on 16 December 1689. It was a re-statement in statutory form of the Declaration of Right presented by the Convention Parliament to William and Mary in March 1689 ,...
".
The question subject to the gagging order was from Paul Farrelly
Paul Farrelly
Christopher Paul Farrelly is a British Labour Party politician and journalist, who has been the Member of Parliament for Newcastle-under-Lyme since 2001.-Early life:...
, MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme
Newcastle-under-Lyme
Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town in Staffordshire, England, and is the principal town of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It is part of The Potteries Urban Area and North Staffordshire. In the 2001 census the town had a population of 73,944...
:
The following day the firm agreed to discharge the order preventing the reporting of the events, which concerned Trafigura
Trafigura
Trafigura is an Amsterdam-based multinational company founded in 1993 trading in base metals and energy, including oil. the company had equity of more than $2 billion and a turnover of $73 billion that generated $440 million of profit....
and a draft chemistry report into the oil slops incident in Côte d'Ivoire. Trafigura maintained that the report was a superseded draft report which was legally privileged and confidential, and that it had been obtained illegally and passed to The Guardian.
According to a press release on Carter-Ruck's website the reason that The Guardian could not report the question asked by Paul Farrelly was because a gagging order had been in place since 11 September 2009, before the MP asked the question. They also stated that it had never been their intention to prevent the press reporting on parliament and that they had since agreed on changes with The Guardian to the gagging order so that they could report on the issue. The firm also pointed out that The Guardian had in fact consented to the order preventing the newspaper from publishing any article about the chemistry report.
Subsequently, lawyers advising the Speaker of the House of Commons are reported to have agreed with Carter-Ruck's interpretation that the injunction as initially granted did prevent the press from reporting the Parliamentary question.
The Conservative MP, Peter Bottomley
Peter Bottomley
Sir Peter James Bottomley is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Worthing West...
reported the firm to the Law Society
Law Society of England and Wales
The Law Society is the professional association that represents the solicitors' profession in England and Wales. It provides services and support to practising and training solicitors as well as serving as a sounding board for law reform. Members of the Society are often consulted when important...
due to their actions which prevented The Guardian covering parliamentary proceedings, however the Law Society did not uphold any complaint.
Criticism
Sir Christopher MeyerChristopher Meyer
Sir Christopher John Rome Meyer, KCMG is a former British Ambassador to the United States , former Ambassador to Germany and the former chairman of the Press Complaints Commission...
, former chairman of the Press Complaints Commission
Press Complaints Commission
The Press Complaints Commission is a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC is funded by the annual levy it charges newspapers and magazines...
(PCC) said that the PCC was the firm's "sworn enemy" and accused the firm of using a Commons select committee hearing to attack the PCC. He suggested that Carter-Ruck and other media law firms probably saw the PCC as their enemy because, "we can do the job for free and can provide a degree of discretion." Cameron Doley, managing partner with Carter-Ruck denied the accusations made against them.
The firm is frequently referred to as 'Carter-Fuck' by the satirical magazine Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
. Despite their antagonistic relationship, Carter-Ruck publicly sided with Private Eye when the magazine lost a £600,000 libel case against Sonia Sutcliffe in 1989. Founder Peter Carter-Ruck
Peter Carter-Ruck
Peter Frederick Carter-Ruck was an English lawyer, specialising in libel cases. The firm he founded, Carter-Ruck, is still practising.-Personal life:...
was subsequently invited to attend a Private Eye lunch, and soon afterwards he asked whether the magazine could stop misprinting the first letter of 'Ruck' as an 'F'. Private Eyes response was to print the first letter of 'Carter' with an 'F' as well.
The Libel Reform Campaign
The Libel Reform Campaign cite many instances where the application of the libel laws by Law Firms like Carter-Ruck is effectively gagging the freedom of expression and free speech in the England and Wales leaving only the wealthy anywhere in the world able to seek justice in the UK where it would be denied in their own country. See Also Libel tourismLibel tourism
Libel tourism is a term first coined by Geoffrey Robertson to describe forum shopping for libel suits. It particularly refers to the practice of pursuing a case in England and Wales, in preference to other jurisdictions, such as the United States, which provide more extensive defences for those...
. However, these criticisms have been challenged by leading media law academics Prof. Alastair Mullis and Dr Andrew Scott.
The most recent example of Carter-Ruck acting on behalf of a client to stifle criticism was reported in the Guardian newspaper on 19 January 2011. Carter-Ruck on behalf of Midland Pig Producers issued a warning letter to the Soil Association threaten libel proceedings after the SA objected to a MPP planning application. . Threatening such proceedings, which are rarely followed through, is a typical modus operandi of Carter-Ruck (and other law firms) to minimise scrutiny and adverse publicity of their clients.
Competitors
Other firms involved in the same field as Carter-Ruck include OlswangOlswang
Olswang is an international law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom and with additional offices in the Thames Valley, Berlin, Brussels, Madrid, Paris and most recently Munich. It also works closely with a network of firms across eighty countries. The Lawyer ranked the firm 32nd largest in...
and Reynolds Porter Chamberlain
Reynolds Porter Chamberlain
Reynolds Porter Chamberlain is a corporate law firm based in London, United Kingdom. The firm has around 420 people - including 65 partners and 172 other UK lawyers...
.