Family of murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia hit out at decision to keep libel lawyer

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The board of English PEN, which campaigns to defend writers and freedom of speech, has decided to retain the libel lawyer Anthony Julius as a trustee.

PEN was under pressure to cut ties with Julius and his firm, the libel specialist Mishcon de Reya, following protests by the family of the murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The decision to retain Julius was condemned by Caruana Galizia’s sons. They said it was “wholly inconsistent” with PEN’s principles.

The case has drawn attention to how wealthy individuals can threaten costly legal action in the UK in an attempt to silence journalists .

In May, Caruana Galizia’s family accused Mishcon of seeking to “cripple” the journalist financially, and called for Julius to step down from PEN, saying his presence on its board was causing “reputational damage”.

The charity’s trustees launched an investigation, which reviewed Mishcon’s correspondence with Caruana Galizia and two other complaints about letters the firm had written, on behalf of separate clients, to the London newspaper the Ham & High, and to a journalist at the Observer.

In a statement, PEN said its board had “concluded that the material put before it does not support the claims that have been reported or made in this particular case”. It said there was “no reason to invite Anthony Julius to step down as a trustee”.

However, PEN acknowledged the case had brought to light issues on which it would seek to campaign.

It pointed to “growing challenges faced by media outlets and journalists in the UK and internationally from law firms seeking to chill investigations, and manage reputations of wealthy clients, at a time when an increasing number of complex and politically important investigations are conducted by independent reporters.”

Last year, shortly before her death, Caruana Galizia received letters from Mishcon asking for some of her blogposts to be deleted because they were “actionable in the high court of England and Wales”. The vast majority of readers of her Running Commentary website were based in Malta.

In response, Caruana Galizia made corrections to her articles and the correspondence with Mishcon ceased. Mishcon said under EU law, a complainant can bring defamation proceedings either in the state where the publisher was based, which allows them to claim for damages to their reputation worldwide, or in any EU state where damage was suffered, in which case the payout relates only to harm caused in that country.

Julius, who is deputy chairman at Mishcon, rose to prominence as the divorce lawyer for Diana, Princess of Wales. He was appointed to PEN in December.

He told the Guardian: “I defend English PEN and support the invaluable work they do both here in the UK and internationally. I welcome the thorough investigation which my fellow trustees have undertaken.

“PEN is committed to addressing through open dialogue with journalists, lawyers and freedom of expression groups, the wider, more complex set of issues which the investigation has disclosed. I look forward to participating in this dialogue as a PEN trustee.”

His fellow board members will now review the way in which they work with law firms. Mishcon has provided unpaid support to English PEN, helping draft a response to the Leveson inquiry into press regulation, and giving immigration advice to writers facing persecution in Turkey and elsewhere.

The organisation’s board also includes the media lawyer Geraldine Proudler, a former member of the Scott Trust, which overseas the Guardian and Observer.

In a statement, Caruana Galizia’s sons, Matthew, Andrew and Paul said legal threats to journalists of the kind experienced by their mother was “wholly inconsistent with English PEN’s principles”.

“It’s disappointing that English PEN have decided to support Mishcon instead of journalism. This has never been about our mother’s case as an isolated incident or about Anthony Julius as an isolated actor.

“Neither has this been about working with lawyers in general: there are brilliant lawyers who, at a great cost to themselves, fight for the rights of journalists and writers.”

PEN is a federation, with over 150 autonomous centres around the world. In a statement released Tuesday leaders of their umbrella organisation, PEN International, expressed support for Caruana Galizia’s sons and sought to distance themselves from the decision on Julius.

“At this time, we need to emphasize that sometimes PEN centres take positions that are at variance with PEN ideals,” said Salil Tripathi, who chairs the group’s international writers in prison committee. “Each PEN centre has full autonomy and their respective boards take decisions based on local realities; the positions they take do not necessarily reflect PEN International’s positions, or those of other centres.”





