In Camera - Amaral seeks to have media excluded from libel trial.

[Redblossom]

It's a very pedantic point but I think it's correct.

No official conclusion exists as to what happened to Madeleine and who is and is not guilty. There is absolutely no way that this particular court can work out what has happened, and it does not seek to. That is a matter for formal investigators and a criminal court.

The remit of this court is only to assess the extent of the emotional damage caused to the McCanns by Amaral's book, and the damage done to the search.

We do not necessarily need to know the outcome of the investigation to know that. We may never get as far as nailing a guilty party even if there is a 'conclusion' to the investigation.

If  concrete knowledge of the guilty party was a prerequisite for this libel case, the McCanns would have been advised not to take Amaral to court.

but thats like sayng the mccanns could have been involved, but theyve been libelled, (upset by x y z anyway by a police conclusion in the case, the search hampered if there ws no search to be in reality) just in case they werent, sorry, computer says no
 

im sure the courts are less into semantics than that, hopefully anyway

goodnight SH

[ferryman]

A Supreme Court has determined that the book was not libelous. That was the ultimate level of a Court decision in Portugal. There is no way that any action taken against that book on a lower instance (a first instance Civil Court) would prevail against the Supreme Court.
It's absolutely legitimate to try to obtain a compensation for damage suffered, but for that you have to prove such damages.

No it didn't!

It didn't consider the question of libel at all.

[Luz]

I actually feel a little sorry for you..you don't have  aclue do you

Really? Have you studied portuguese law?!

I am sorry for you.

[Mr Gray]

Really? Have you studied portuguese law?!

I am sorry for you.

REPLY: Let me clear up a misunderstanding here. The decisions of the Portuguese Appeal Court (October 2010) and the Portuguese Supreme Court (March 2011) were INTERIM decisions which merely allowed the book to be sold PENDING the decision of the court of first instance, namely the Lisbon Civil Court, where the trial is now taking place. The Court is free to make whatever decision it concludes is correct, i.e. did Dr Amaral libel the McCanns and thereby cause them a  lot of distress? Or not? (I would add that of course the Lisbon Civil Court can hardly ignore some of the principles laid down by the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court decisions, such as their frequent references to the European Court of Human Rights decisions on freedom of expression and freedom of speech).

[Luz]

perhaps you should read the following, written by a solicitor

REPLY: Let me clear up a misunderstanding here. The decisions of the Portuguese Appeal Court (October 2010) and the Portuguese Supreme Court (March 2011) were INTERIM decisions which merely allowed the book to be sold PENDING the decision of the court of first instance, namely the Lisbon Civil Court, where the trial is now taking place. The Court is free to make whatever decision it concludes is correct, i.e. did Dr Amaral libel the McCanns and thereby cause them a  lot of distress? Or not? (I would add that of course the Lisbon Civil Court can hardly ignore some of the principles laid down by the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court decisions, such as their frequent references to the European Court of Human Rights decisions on freedom of expression and freedom of speech).

I am sorry you are so misinformed, but it will not be me that is going to correct you. Google is your friend.

[Mr Gray]

I am sorry you are so misinformed, but it will not be me that is going to correct you. Google is your friend.

I will let the other posters here make their own minds up

[Luz]

I will let the other posters here make their own minds up

That's an intelligent decision. 

[Mr Gray]

That's an intelligent decision. 

I'm glad you respect my intellect

[Mr Gray]

I am sorry you are so misinformed, but it will not be me that is going to correct you. Google is your friend.

this isn't from google its from a very well respected uk solicitor(ex)



REPLY: Let me clear up a misunderstanding here. The decisions of the Portuguese Appeal Court (October 2010) and the Portuguese Supreme Court (March 2011) were INTERIM decisions which merely allowed the book to be sold PENDING the decision of the court of first instance, namely the Lisbon Civil Court, where the trial is now taking place. The Court is free to make whatever decision it concludes is correct, i.e. did Dr Amaral libel the McCanns and thereby cause them a  lot of distress? Or not? (I would add that of course the Lisbon Civil Court can hardly ignore some of the principles laid down by the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court decisions, such as their frequent references to the European Court of Human Rights decisions on freedome of expression and freedom of speech).

I think even you may have heard of him..oh the irony

[Redblossom]

I'm glad you respect my intellect

a little less than the intellect of gooseberries and rasberies so far.....try harder and smarter and u mayget somewhere in this stinking mess hey???

promise to go to bed now  LoooooL

[Luz]

this isn't from google its from a very well respected uk solicitor(ex)



REPLY: Let me clear up a misunderstanding here. The decisions of the Portuguese Appeal Court (October 2010) and the Portuguese Supreme Court (March 2011) were INTERIM decisions which merely allowed the book to be sold PENDING the decision of the court of first instance, namely the Lisbon Civil Court, where the trial is now taking place. The Court is free to make whatever decision it concludes is correct, i.e. did Dr Amaral libel the McCanns and thereby cause them a  lot of distress? Or not? (I would add that of course the Lisbon Civil Court can hardly ignore some of the principles laid down by the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court decisions, such as their frequent references to the European Court of Human Rights decisions on freedome of expression and freedom of speech).

I think even you may have heard of him..oh the irony

Maybe you haven't noticed, but UK Law is not applied in Portugal - we are not Gibraltar.

[puglove]

Please, guys..I know it's Saturday night, and I must admit that "incontinence is not a laughing matter" made me smile, but I'm trying to have a Rumpole marathon on youtube, and all I'm getting are the loud clicks as you lot report each other. You've just ruined a summing-up in a messy divorce. Be nice, or suck it up. Thanking you.

[Mr Gray]

Maybe you haven't noticed, but UK Law is not applied in Portugal - we are not Gibraltar.

the comment is re Portuguese law rodney

[AnneGuedes]

a little less than the intellect of gooseberries and rasberies so far.....try harder and smarter and u mayget somewhere in this stinking mess hey???

promise to go to bed now  LoooooL

Redblossom always wins because she makes people laugh. Let's think about it !

[icabodcrane]

Not academic at all.

JP has asked why Amaral wanted proceedings conducted in camera.

My guess would be damage limitation.

He doesn't want his risible "thesis" exposed to the full glare of public scrutiny ...

I've been pondering this question for a while and the only rational explanation I can see is,  in fact,  the one given by Amaral's lawyer  ...   that the integrity of the current joint investigation between Scotland Yard and the Portuguese police needed to be protected

Afterall,  Scotland Yard advised Kate McCann not to attend the trial as the inevitable media circus might harm the investigation   ...  that is correct,  I presume,  since it has been repeated in the press several times now without any rebuttal from the McCanns

I really can not see that Amaral wanted the media excluded because, as you suggest,  'he doesn't want his risable thesis exposed to the full glare of public scrutiny' 

If that were the case  ...  if he was fully aware that his case was so hopeless that he dare not let the press witness it  ...  then surely he would have accepted  ANY  out of court settlement the McCanns offered