A London judge on Feb. 24 dismissed a libel lawsuit filed by Ukrainian billionaire Dmytro Firtash against the Kyiv Post, saying that the link to English jurisdiction was “tenuous in the extreme.” Observers of the two-hour hearing in the High Court in London said the judge also called the Firtash lawsuit against the Kyiv Post “almost an abuse of process.”

The oral ruling by High Court Master John Leslie, to be followed by a written order, may end proceedings in the case involving a July 2 Kyiv Post front-page news story that reported accusations of corruption and conflict of interest in the highly lucrative yet frequently non-transparent Ukrainian gas trade.

The ruling is being hailed as a victory for free speech internationally and a blow to so-called "libel tourism," in which wealthy foreigners abuse the United Kingdom's lax free-speech protections and high litigation costs to file lawsuits involving issues that have no substantial connection to England. The decision is also expected to give greater impetus to the popular movement to change English libel laws.

According to Ross Hall of Financial Dynamics, a London-based communications firm retained by the Kyiv Post, Leslie – the presiding judge – was categorical in ruling that Firtash’s case had no business being heard in UK courts.
http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/98219/