Last week, science writer Simon Singh celebrated his successful appeal in the Royal Courts of Justice, pleased that he could defend his claims about the British Chiropractic Association as “fair comment”. Singh was personally sued for libel by the BCA in July 2008 for a Guardian article alleging that the association “happily promotes bogus treatments”.
But despite the appeal ruling the BCA still hasn’t dropped its case. This week legal blogger Jack of Kent, aka lawyer Allen Green penned an open letter to the association, saying the time has come “to bring the claim against Simon Singh to an end”. An extract:
The claim should never have been brought, but one can see why the BCA hung on until the Court of Appeal decision. The BCA can still extract itself with some dignity now the procedural advantage has been lost. It really should take this opportunity to bring this wretched business to a close. The time has come to settle.
When Journalism.co.uk contacted the BCA spokesperson yesterday, we were told the association’s statement of 1 April still stood, with no further comment.
Following the High Court ruling Richard Brown, BCA president, said:
“We are of course disappointed to lose the appeal, but this is not the end of the road and we are considering whether to seek permission to appeal to the Supreme Court and subsequently proceed to trial. Our original argument remains that our reputation has been damaged. To reiterate, the BCA brought this claim only to uphold its good name and protect its reputation, honesty and integrity.”
Here’s that statement of 1 April in full: