Qualified privilege

Kearns and others v General Council of the Bar (QBD [2002] [4 All ER 1075])

A barrister complained to the Bar Council raising concerns about the claimants, who had been instructing working pupils. The barrister alleged that receiving instructions from the claimants appeared to place barristers in breach of their code of conduct in numerous respects, since, inter alia, the second claimant seemed to be a limited company which was not a Bar Direct body. The head of professional standards and legal services of the Bar Council wrote to heads of Chambers and senior clerks cautioning against accepting instructions from the claimants. The claimants at once complained pointing out that they were in fact solicitors and thus perfectly entitled to instruct barristers. The Bar Council immediately sent a correction and apology to all of the recipients of its letter. On the claimants’ issuing proceedings in defamation, the Bar Council applied to strike out the claim, contending that the letter was a plain case of common law qualified privilege, and that since malice was not alleged, the claim had no prospect of success.