Mclibel II

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1298671,00.html

 

McLibel Two take battle with the law to Brussels

 

 

John Vidal

Tuesday September 7, 2004

 

The Guardian

 

It was one of the sights of the Piccadilly line rush hour for several years

in the mid 1990s: Dave Morris and Helen Steel, a postman and an unemployed

gardener, preparing legal notes under the armpits of commuters as they

headed to the high court to defend themselves against £2,000-a-day libel

lawyers employed by one of the world's richest corporations.

 

McLibel, as the case became known, was England's longest and most one-sided

civil court case. The food giant McDonald's and its crack legal team had

expected to take just a few weeks to get an easy judgment against the two

legally-naive Londoners.

 

The issue was an A5 pamphlet, written in the 1980s and distributed to just a

few people, which accused the fast-food multinational of dozens of

malpractices.

 

But it ended up being a 313-day court experience, costing McDonald's £10m

and acres of bad publicity, and obliging Ms Steel and Mr Morris - the

" McLibel Two " - to give up more than 10 years to fight for the principle of

free speech, without legal aid or a jury.

 

Both sides claimed victory when the case ended in 1997, but the judge, Mr

Justice Rodger Bell, awarded damages against Ms Steel and Mr Morris of

£76,000, which they have not paid.

 

This morning, the last and perhaps most significant act of McLibel will be

played out in the European court of human rights in Strasbourg. Lawyers for

Ms Steel and Mr Morris will appear for two hours in front of 15 judges to

try to force the British government to change the libel laws which many

believe stifle free speech, favour the rich and are out of step with other

states.

 

To the relief of the McLibel Two, they will not have to say anything. The

evidence will be presented in written form, with a 10-page summary of more

than 40,000 pages of court testimony and legal arguments made at the time.

 

Their lawyers will claim that the UK courts breached two articles of the

human rights convention, giving them neither a fair trial nor the right to

freedom of expression. Being made to prove the absolute truth of every

assertion in the pamphlet contravened the principle of free speech, they

will say. They will also argue that it was impossible to defend themselves

properly without legal aid, and that multinational companies should be in

the same position as governments and local authorities and not be allowed to

sue individuals.

 

" The contrast and inequality between the two parties' legal assistance could

not have been greater, " says their submission to the European court.

" McDonald's were represented by a QC specialising in libel law, a junior

barrister, two or three solicitors and the resources of a large firm of

solicitors ... All [steel and Morris] could hope to do was keep going ...

two inexperienced, untrained and exhausted individuals who were pushed to

their physical and mental limits. "

 

If they win, the government will be under serious pressure to amend the

libel laws.

 

" The thrust of the case is that the British judicial system is based on an

adversarial model, where each party is equally armed, " said Mark Stephens,

of Finers Stephens Innocent law firm. " It will be argued that because Steel

and Morris had no legal aid, they were unable to get witnesses and

scientific expertise. "

 

Mr Morris, 50, a former postman and union activist, is still a community

activist with the Haringey solidarity group in north London, which works

with unions and community groups. Ms Steel, 38, a gardener before taking on

McDonald's, is now an electrician.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,1271,-4478414,00.html

Battle resumes in McLibel epic

 

Press Association

 

Tuesday September 7, 2004 10:28 AM

 

 

 

The " McLibel two " have launched a new phase in their epic legal struggle

with fast food giant McDonald's - already the longest court case in English

legal history.

 

Helen Steel and David Morris first took on McDonald's and lost in a 314 day

libel action which ended in 1997.

 

The so-called " McLibel Two " went to the European Court of Human Rights to

argue that English libel law favours the rich and powerful, and is a breach

of their human rights.

 

The case in Strasbourg lasted less than a morning - in stark contrast to

their marathon High Court action, which made legal history.

 

Keir Starmer QC, representing Ms Steel and Mr Morris, told human rights

judges: " This case is about the rights of two ordinary people without power

or wealth to engage in a public campaign on matters of public interest and

importance. "

 

He said English libel law breached the Human Rights Convention - to which

the UK Government is a signatory - because of the stark inequality between

an ordinary couple and a massive corporation.

 

McDonald's mustered the most expensive lawyers and deployed all the

resources of a multinational, while Helen Steel and David Morris struggled

to argue their case without Legal Aid or the money to provide the legal

expertise they required.

 

English libel law, said Mr Starmer, clearly did not meet the requirements of

the Human Rights Convention, which guarantees the right to a fair trial and

the right to freedom of expression.

 

Ms Steel, 39, and 50-year-old Mr Morris were taken to court by McDonald's

for campaigning against the company, handing out leaflets entitled: " What's

wrong with McDonald's? "

 

The leaflets - which the pair had no hand in writing - made serious

allegations about the company's business conduct and the nutritional value

of its burgers. The High Court in London ruled at the end of the 314-day

trial that McDonald's had been libelled, and awarded the company £60,000 in

damages for defamation, which was reduced to £40,000 on appeal.

 

© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2004, .