Maddie libel battle to go to Human Rights Court

THE legal battle between Kate and Gerry McCann and former Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral may end with a face-to-face confrontation at the European Court of Human Rights.

By James Murray
PUBLISHED: 00:01, Sun, Apr 24, 2016


The final showdown in Strasbourg would come as a hefty financial blow to the loser but it would finally draw a line under the legal wrangle, now in its seventh year.

Speaking from her office in Lisbon, Mr and Mrs McCann’s lawyer Isabel Duarte said the case had become “political and toxic”.


When asked whether it could go all the way to Strasbourg, she replied: “Of course. I don’t know if that will happen but it is possible.”

He’s prepared to take whatever steps are necessary to protect his freedom of speech and his reputation
A source close to Mr Amaral

The couple sued Mr Amaral over claims he made in his book, The Truth Of The Lie. He was forced to take early retirement while investigating Madeleine’s disappearance in Praia da Luz on the Algarve nine years ago.

Last week he won a significant victory in his efforts to restore his reputation when Portugal’s Appeal Court found in his favour.

The decision overturned a lower court’s ruling ordering him to pay the McCanns almost £400,000 for alleged libel over claims he made in his book, that Madeleine had died in apartment 5a of the Ocean Club in May 2007.

GETTY
Goncalo Amaral is a former Portuguese police chief
He has insisted the theory came from information in the original police files. He also claimed he had the right to express his opinion on the case after being removed from the investigation in October 2007.

Ms Duarte has been instructed by the McCanns to fight the appeal court’s judgment at the Supreme Court in Lisbon.

If Madeleine’s parents lose this challenge they face a double legal whammy as Mr Amaral has signalled his intention to sue them for damages to his reputation, potentially putting at risk some of the £746,152 in the McCann’s Maddie Fund.

GETTY
Goncalo Amaral is being sued by the McCanns by over claims he made in his book
If it goes to the European Court of Human Rights, the legal bills could be astronomical. The court encourages parties to reach a “friendly settlement” but a lengthy and costly hearing seems likely.

A source close to Mr Amaral said: “He’s prepared to take whatever steps are necessary to protect his freedom of speech and his reputation.”

GETTY
Mr Amaral was order to pay the McCanns almost £400,000 over libel claims
Meanwhile, copies of his book are expected to go back on sale in Portugal this week. The McCanns said in a statement last week that they were “disappointed” by the ruling from the Appellate Court.

The statement added: “We will continue to defend ourselves against this libel and the search for our daughter.

“We will be appealing to the Portuguese Supreme Court.”


http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/663868/MaddieMcCann-libel-Human-Rights-Court

snipped from OP - quote from ID:

"
When asked whether it could go all the way to Strasbourg, she replied: “Of course. I don’t know if that will happen but it is possible.” "


Not sure whether Mr. & Mrs.would have to give evidence in person and be quesitoned - if that is the case I beleive they will think twice about it.  I know I would.

IMO it's all hot air! And didn't Duarte know that this case was 'political & toxic' from the start!?

Don't they have to get pass the Portuguese Supreme Court first.?

Then the Portuguese Constitutional Court?
--------------------------------------
"From that couple, I already expect everything. Nonetheless, IF, in fact, they are looking for their daughter, it is not in the Portuguese civil courts that they will find her"

“We will be 'appealing' to the Portuguese Supreme Court.”
------------------------------
No, you WON'T!

You weren't even 'appealing' to the Appellate Court!

The statement added: “We will continue to defend ourselves against this libel and the search for our daughter.

Wonder who wrote that? Webmaster or Kate?
"Defend ourselves against this libel" making it out they are defendants. They are not.
Fight the verdict more like because they are not defendants. They are plaintiffs.

Thanks for that reminder.

They make it up as they go along.

Seriously, what searching are they doing?

@LIR

Yes, they make it up as they like. Typical of them really.
How can they be defending against a libel they initiated?

I see the Daily Express delights in telling its readers that loser risks facing a hefty financial blow and that the McCann's Maddie (dwindling) Fund would be used for the legal bills and possibly double whammy costs to Mcs if they were sued.

Meanwhile, Amaral's book is plugged and readers are reminded of Police theory she died in the hol. apartment.

If it comes to ID taking it to ERHC it would the McCanns vs State of Portugal.
I would be very surprised if it is admissible.

EHRC based in Strasbourg, considers cases initiated by organisations, states and individuals against any country which has signed up to the convention; namely, most of the European.
Meaning if the Mcs were to file with Strasbourg it would be a case of individuals (Mcs) vs the Portuguese Republic.
Amaral against Portugal would make sense had the State deprived him of his human rights (basic constitutional right) to free speech (on the back of Mcs litigation).
Mcs against Portugal does not make sense because their constitutional right to free speech isn't at stake.

Who Can Bring a Case (to EHRC)?
Basically anyone, but you must be able to prove that you have been a direct victim of a violation of your human rights and you will not be able to bring a case against an individual or a private body.

Same old, same old; they have deliberately tried to distort information, they have falsified accounts of their truth ( as can be seen in Kate's book) IMO they are very good at deceiving & manipulating to their own advantage. This time though it looks like it's backfired judging by Amarals justably worthy win & all the comments on the Sun! Perhaps this 'game' which has been played by them & their supporters for far too long, is soon to be a 'set' & 'match'! 

RIP Brenda Leyland
Justice for Madeleine aged 3 

jeanmonroe wrote:Don't they have to get pass the Portuguese Supreme Court first.?

Then the Portuguese Constitutional Court?
--------------------------------------
"From that couple, I already expect everything. Nonetheless, IF, in fact, they are looking for their daughter, it is not in the Portuguese civil courts that they will find her"

The Constitutional Court of Portugal is a special court, a judicial branch of the Portuguese political organization.  It is not a Court arbiter of civil cases or criminal cases.

The Supreme Court of Justice is the highest court of law in any jurisdiction.

The next hierarchy higher than Appellate Court (Appeal Court) is the Supreme Court.  
Their appeal to Supreme Court must be on point of law or new grounds.  If not admissible to Supreme Court it will be the end of the road for them.

aiyoyo wrote:
...

If it comes to ID taking it to ERHC it would the McCanns vs State of Portugal.

EHRC based in Strasbourg, considers cases initiated by organisations, states and individuals against any country which has signed up to the convention; namely, most of the European. Meaning if the Mcs were to file with Strasbourg it would be a case of individuals (Mcs) vs the Portuguese Republic.

Mcs against Portugal does not make sense because their constitutional right to free speech isn't at stake.  

The issue here is not the right to free speech for the McCanns, the issue is their "Right to Reputation".   Assuming they lose at the Supreme Court, they would claim that Portugal had (by allowing the book and the documentary) infringed the McCann's right to a good reputation.

In an article on the subject (link below), the cases brought were upheld: "when the factual allegations were of such a seriously offensive nature that their publication had an inevitable direct effect on the applicant’s private life."    

The article makes it clear that: "there is a right to reputation, but not always. Only when the publication in question compromises the personal integrity of the person concerned"

Case law has done a poor job of documenting how it determines whether the right has been infringed.  However, the point is that the McCanns can, and - IMO - almost certainly will, take their case to this next level when they lose at the SC.  It will cost a fortune, but they've got a spare 750k kicking around to pay for it all,

What I'm not clear on is WHY they would do it. It wouldn't get them their "libel" money back again. It might possibly ban the book again - and perhaps Portugal would have to pay some damages? That bit needs more research.

Here's the link. It's not the clearest bit of writing but covers the main points:

https://strasbourgobservers.com/2010/11/01/the-right-to-reputation-under-the-european-convention-on-human-rights/

In a different (better written) article, the conclusion makes interesting reading.  

"Despite there clearly being no right to reputation in the express terms of the ECHR, the Court has adapted to the evolution of the contemporary society and established this right.

The test of whether there is a specific right to reputation under the ECHR is whether a claim that your rights have been breached will be successful when there were false allegations of fact made about you and:

 (a) the allegations were damaging enough to constitute an interference with your right to a private life,
 (b) there were insufficient attempts to validate the allegations, and
 (c) it is the effect on your reputation alone, rather than any other effect of the allegations on any other aspect of your private life that creates the breach.

The crucial part here is "false allegations".  In other words, if someone uses "Freedom of Expression" to make false allegations - which damage your reputation - then that Freedom of Expres​sion(article 10) has been over-stepped and your Reputation damaged.   But in this case, the allegations in Amaral's book are not false - they are taken directly from the PJ files.  As such the Appeal Court were right to rule as they did.   This has ALWAYS been the weak point of the McCann case, and on my layman's read of the "Right to Reputation", it would sink any case taken to the ECHR as well.

Will it stop them trying?  Only if they listen to their lawyers.

Article is here:  https://blogs.kcl.ac.uk/kslr/?p=656

Yet another story of little significance. They are getting ideas above their station, they didn't do well last time they tried to appeal, so they need to keep their feet on the ground and take one step at a time. 

I'm guessing this is some kind of psychological message to Amaral, making sure he knows they'll drag it out and drag him through hell. Where are they going to find the funds if they lose? I highly doubt in 10 years since Madeleine went missing the Mcaanns have earned and saved hundreds of thousands of pounds of their own money. They couldn't even afford their mortgage, let alone legal costs that are probably as much as the cost of a house.

I would take this story with a pinch of salt, the Mccanns currently don't have a leg to stand on, so they should lay off speculating because they're not in a good legal position at the moment, and seem to be getting above their station, even though their position is currently very weak.

MayMuse wrote:Madeleine, P264 et al. "On Tuesday September 11 we had an 8AM conference call with Michael Caplan, Angus McBride and Justine. It was decided that Justine and Angus would visit the editors of the main tabloid newspapers and Angus would explain to them that there was absolutely no evidence to support our involvement in Madeleine's disappearance". 






Misleading & misdirected information which they put out to MSM!

Oh dear, more leakage.

Specifically:

"absolutely no evidence to support our involvement in Madeleine's disappearance".

Embedded is "our involvement in Madeleine's disappearance"


it is almost as good as oj simpson talking about "my guilt"


They don't tell us there is nothing to indicate any involvement by them in Maddie's disappearance.

MayMuse wrote:Madeleine, P264 et al. "On Tuesday September 11 we had an 8AM conference call with Michael Caplan, Angus McBride and Justine. It was decided that Justine and Angus would visit the editors of the main tabloid newspapers and Angus would explain to them that there was absolutely no evidence to support our involvement in Madeleine's disappearance". 






Misleading & misdirected information which they put out to MSM!

Who disposed of the evidence?

The interesting thing here is that if you take a step back from this whole debacle for a moment a few things become apparent.

This is no longer (for Mr/Mrs.) just a game of "getting away with it" or "concealing the truth". It is a game of WINNING. Their initial delight in covering their tracks, then making money while duping the public, then becoming media stars has not fed their need for attention enough. Getting away with it is not enough anymore. They have reached a kind of ceiling and short of having at reality show of their own ("A Home In Rothley"?) the extent of fame and financial rewards they have received so far have not been enough to satisfy them.

Meanwhile Amaral remains their arch enemy (they knew he had them pegged from day one) and their need to destroy him is what is keeping them alive. No tv sofa chat with Lorraine can provide enough thrills. No donation big enough (well, maybe). They want the head of Goncalo Amaral, the man who tried to thwart their plans for a great life. The only voice of any authority that has anything on them.

The litigious behaviour shows how much rage, contempt, fury is directed at the man who has a platform to remind them, and the public, that their story is a sham.

It may take several more years, but in their desire, or rather their compulsion to keep this saga going, The McCanns have bought themselves and their children a one way ticket to hell.

Quite rightly you mention their children.

Lets not forget they sued dr Amaral cum suis in the name of the twins too.

The twins are claimants therefore, and any decision by the Courts positively or adversely affects them too.

For instance: decisions on the costs involved in all this litigation affect them: they too must pay them for their parts in the proceedings.

What a legacy, what a burden for these two.

Strangely nobody appears to pay any attention to this so far.

Team McCann are constantly firefighting one mess after another that they themselves created!   They have been about one thing only since day one, namely damage limitation

Hobs wrote:

MayMuse wrote:Madeleine, P264 et al. "On Tuesday September 11 we had an 8AM conference call with Michael Caplan, Angus McBride and Justine. It was decided that Justine and Angus would visit the editors of the main tabloid newspapers and Angus would explain to them that there was absolutely no evidence to support our involvement in Madeleine's disappearance". 






Misleading & misdirected information which they put out to MSM!

Oh dear, more leakage.

Specifically:

"absolutely no evidence to support our involvement in Madeleine's disappearance".

Embedded is "our involvement in Madeleine's disappearance"


it is almost as good as oj simpson talking about "my guilt"


They don't tell us there is nothing to indicate any involvement by them in Maddie's disappearance.

Exactly my thoughts too @Hobs ... it's all the "minutiae" which seems to fall out their mouths?! IMO

secrets and lies wrote:The interesting thing here is that if you take a step back from this whole debacle for a moment a few things become apparent.

This is no longer (for Mr/Mrs.) just a game of "getting away with it" or "concealing the truth". It is a game of WINNING. Their initial delight in covering their tracks, then making money while duping the public, then becoming media stars has not fed their need for attention enough. Getting away with it is not enough anymore. They have reached a kind of ceiling and short of having at reality show of their own ("A Home In Rothley"?) the extent of fame and financial rewards they have received so far have not been enough to satisfy them.

Meanwhile Amaral remains their arch enemy (they knew he had them pegged from day one) and their need to destroy him is what is keeping them alive. No tv sofa chat with Lorraine can provide enough thrills. No donation big enough (well, maybe). They want the head of Goncalo Amaral, the man who tried to thwart their plans for a great life. The only voice of any authority that has anything on them.

The litigious behaviour shows how much rage, contempt, fury is directed at the man who has a platform to remind them, and the public, that their story is a sham.

It may take several more years, but in their desire, or rather their compulsion to keep this saga going, The McCanns have bought themselves and their children a one way ticket to hell.

Summed up perfectly ;-)..."Whatever position Madeleine finds herself in, how is that our fault?"... as her concerned father once said or something along those lines! Maybe if they took a step back or ten, they could perhaps see what they have done ( to Madeleine & her siblings) and are still doing to the twins! Those poor babies will have this hanging around their necks for life! It is them that I do feel sorry for ( Madeleine too) and sadly the "position" they are continually "pushed" into has been created by their own "loving" (Not) parents!? Makes my blood boil!

secrets and lies wrote:
...

The litigious behaviour shows how much rage, contempt, fury is directed at the man who has a platform to remind them, and the public, that their story is a sham.

It may take several more years, but in their desire, or rather their compulsion to keep this saga going, The McCanns have bought themselves and their children a one way ticket to hell.

Well said. The McCanns experienced great tragedy in their lives and instead of finding a way to live with the terrible events and loss, they have spent 9 years obsessing and suing and appearing in public - reliving and litigating on a near-constant basis. It is the essence of an unhealthy obsession and very damaging on their 2 remaining children.

And as you rightly say, their obsession has now become a compulsion and even now - having comprehensively lost - they simply cannot and will not give it up.

Does anyone know if the Mccanns have put in their appeal yet? I read that they have 30 days to do so.

Bayonne wrote:Does anyone know if the Mccanns have put in their appeal yet? I read that they have 30 days to do so.

Have no idea, I should imagine they will be in "talks" with their lawyers although Duarte did say she had "instruction" to do so; IMO they really should leave it now. I so feel for the twins, all this back & forth battle (to prove what exactly) does not adhere to a "normal & happy family life". 
They have had to live with this since their sister "vanished", how is this ongoing "fiasco" sane or even fair to them?