Many commentators believe that a judgment given in February 2006 by Mr Justice Eady in the case of Lowe v Associated Newspapers could be one of the most important decisions in the past year for the development of the law of defamation and may encourage more media defendants to rely on the defence of fair comment.

To be successful in a defence of fair comment, the defendant must show that the words complained of are comment (and not fact), that the comment is honestly held by the commentator and is based on true facts sufficient to support the comment.