Defamation ruling for Hong Kong Football Association against Ming Pao overturned
A Chinese-language newspaper was cleared of defaming the vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Football Association in an editorial after the Court of Appeal ruled the paper made its comments in the public interest.
The Court of Appeal yesterday overturned a jury's verdict that found that Ming Pao had defamed Pui Kwan-kay by alleging that he was incapable of managing the association.
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Appeal Court Vice-President Mr Justice Johnson Lam Man-hon wrote: "Though the article could be regarded as aggressive or even provocative, we are of the firm view that Ming Pao has established a defence of public interest in the present case and the choice of wording and presentation of material was within [the bounds of] editorial judgment."
Lam said that judges, while dealing with this sort of libel case, not only had to pay attention to assessment of the evidence but also the context of the article.
In this case, he found the court should also consider the balance of freedom of speech, editorial judgment in the overall context of public interest, whether it is in the public interest to publish a statement notwithstanding its defamatory nature and the meaning of the article.
