FORMER OPPOSITION Leader Edward Seaga has been granted leave to appeal to the United Kingdom Privy Council against a Court of Appeal ruling that he should pay retired Deputy Commissioner of Police Leslie Harper damages for slander.
The Supreme Court had awarded Mr. Harper, who is an attorney-at-law, $3.5 million in damages. However, in December last year, the Court of Appeal reduced the amount to $1.5 million.
The Court of Appeal held that the damages were excessive because Mr. Harper did not claim he had suffered in his post because of the slander.
In his defence, Mr. Seaga had claimed qualified privilege but the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of Mr. Justice Brooks that qualified privilege did not apply.
The Court of Appeal also agreed with Mr. Justice Brooks that Mr. Harper was defamed in his capacity as deputy commissioner of police.
Mr. Harper had filed the suit claiming that Mr. Seaga defamed his character at a Jamaica Labour Party meeting at a hotel in St. Andrew on March 6, 1996.
Mr. Seaga claims he has a real chance of success in his appeal. He contended yesterday in his application for leave to appeal that, in his defence of qualified privilege, Mr. Harper did not file a response claiming there was malice. He said Mr. Justice Brooks applied a media libel test which the Court of Appeal found to be wrong but found other grounds on which to uphold the Supreme Court ruling.
