Robert Murat wins libel case against national daily Correio da Manhã

[Rachel Granada]

what's all this about cultural analysis - he wrote the book for money.

I can't disagree with that.  However, I do think the cultural analysis is interesting and adds to the thread.

[Eleanor]

We all know that there was a language problem which created difficulties.  No one's fault initially.
Using this problem to bring suspicion on The McCanns was a disgrace.  And believe me, it was used for such a purpose.

[Eleanor]

It doesn't really matter who breached Robert Murat's rights under Portuguese Law, beyond who pays.  The Court has ruled that someone did.
This is what Amaral did to The McCanns.  So of course this ruling will affect Amaral's Trial.  Unless individual Courts please themselves, of course, which is always a possibility in Portugal.

[John]

The newspaper which libeled Robert Murat did so on the basis of leaks by the police.  The appeal court which awarded the ?15,000 damages to Murat acknowledged this in their decision. 

No John. The newspaper apparently was briefed by the same person, a convict (he didn't say that to the CdM),who briefed the PJ.
Cumpre desde já concluir, que como resulta de todos os elementos dados como provados, não se pode concluir que as informações veiculadas sejam falsas ou obtidas em violação do segredo justiça. Quanto a este último aspecto, a verdade é que nenhuma prova foi feita e no que toca às notícias divulgadas e no que toca à falsidade das notícias, também nenhuma prova cabal se fez da sua falsidade, sendo certo que os Réus lograram provar ter verificado as fontes, cruzando a informação, ponderando as notícias.

Not according to another Portuguese Press article...

"The newspaper frequently quoted anonymous police sources and alleged leaks by investigators in their coverage of the case to substantiate its claims."

[AnneGuedes]

The newspaper which libeled Robert Murat did so on the basis of leaks by the police.  The appeal court which awarded the ?15,000 damages to Murat acknowledged this in their decision. 

No John. The newspaper apparently was briefed by the same person, a convict (he didn't say that to the CdM),who briefed the PJ.
Cumpre desde já concluir, que como resulta de todos os elementos dados como provados, não se pode concluir que as informações veiculadas sejam falsas ou obtidas em violação do segredo justiça. Quanto a este último aspecto, a verdade é que nenhuma prova foi feita e no que toca às notícias divulgadas e no que toca à falsidade das notícias, também nenhuma prova cabal se fez da sua falsidade, sendo certo que os Réus lograram provar ter verificado as fontes, cruzando a informação, ponderando as notícias.

Not according to another Portuguese Press article...

"The newspaper frequently quoted anonymous police sources and alleged leaks by investigators in their coverage of the case to substantiate its claims."

I quoted the acórdão, not an article.

[Eleanor]

Have we got a Rolling Eyes Smilie?

[Rachel Granada]

Anne, with the greatest of respect to you, I think that it is becoming clearer and clearer that the source of these foul smears on Robert Murat's good name came from the PJ.

[John]

Can you link to the acórdão please Anne?

[AnneGuedes]

A friend of Carana found it
http://www.dgsi.pt/jtrl.nsf/33182fc732316039802565fa00497eec/8ae65886ef70827180257b63003d7a75?OpenDocument

[John]

A friend of Carana found it
http://www.dgsi.pt/jtrl.nsf/33182fc732316039802565fa00497eec/8ae65886ef70827180257b63003d7a75?OpenDocument

Thanks Anne,  I must have missed that post.

It would be helpful if someone could translate it for us?

[Chinagirl]

John:

Mr Amaral was the coordinator in the investigation which promoted 'arguido' or official suspect status against Gerry, Kate and Robert Murat based on flawed reasoning and false allegations.  The newspaper which libeled Robert Murat did so on the basis of leaks by the police.  The appeal court which awarded the €15,000 damages to Murat acknowledged this in their decision.  This will inevitably have an effect on any future such actions and in particular the civil action being brought against Amaral by the McCanns. [/u]

I have to wonder about this, given the differences between common law which relies on precedence and codified law which doesn't.  As I understand it, under the system which is used in Portugal, previous judgments have no bearing on future cases, unlike the common law system where precedence is the overriding consideration.

[AnneGuedes]

Previous judgements have influence :
“Em face do lesado, quer haja subsequência (adequada) de causas, quer haja causas cumulativas ou mera coincidência de causas de natureza distinta, qualquer dos responsáveis é obrigado a reparar todo o dano.”.
Sendo assim tal responsabilidade solidária, como expressamente se prevê no art.º 497º, n.º 1, do Código Civil.
Apenas nas relações internas dos vários responsáveis o regime oscila, em função das culpas daqueles e das consequências que delas advieram, “desde a solidariedade perfeita até à solidariedade só aparente.”.
Estabelecendo-se porém a presunção de igualdade das culpas das pessoas responsáveis, cfr. n.º 2, do mesmo art.º.
No sentido de uma tal solidariedade se havendo pronunciado, relativamente a hipótese afim, o Supremo Tribunal de Justiça, no seu Acórdão de 18-06-2009

[Chinagirl]

Google translation:

In the face of the victim, whether there substring (appropriately) causes either there or causes cumulative coincidence of causes of a different nature, any of those responsible are required to repair all the damage. ".
Therefore such liability, as expressly provides in art. # 497, no. 1 of the Civil Code.
Only in the internal relations of the various responsible regime fluctuates, depending on those faults and consequences which were derived "from a perfect solidarity to the only apparent solidarity.".
Settling but the presumption of equality of faults of responsible persons, cf. n. # 2 of that article. thereof.
In such a sense of solidarity there is pronounced, the hypothesis regarding order, the Supreme Court, in its judgment of 18-06-2009

[AnneGuedes]

The question here is whether each accused has to repair all damages or only those he's responsible for. The conclusion of the quoted acórdão is equality of the faults and solidarity in repair.

[Chinagirl]

Extract, quote:  (my underlining)

In civil jurisprudence nations, by contrast, a judge’s decision only applies to the particular case at hand. In France, for example, a decision often consists of little more than a statement of the verdict, followed by citation of the relevant statutes, without any elaborate interpretation. Other courts in future cases are expected to appeal directly to the statutes, not a previous court’s interpretation of the statute. In some civil law countries, such as Italy, there is an expectation that the lower courts will interpret the law in the same way as the Supreme Court, but there is no strict requirement that they will do so. Indeed, there would be no way to enforce this, as case law does not constitute a formal precedent; only the statutes passed by legislators are binding.

Unquote

http://www.arcaneknowledge.org/histpoli/commoncivil.htm

Common Law and Civil Jurisprudence, D J Castellano, 2009