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Friday, November 1, 2002
Sir,
In your profile of the ineffable Anthony Julius he boasts of his victory in my High Court libel action against Lipstadt and Penguin Books Ltd. Yes, they won by playing the "racism" card -- a disgraceful allegation which even their own client Prof Lipstadt had not made, and which was not pleaded in her original defence at all.
He does not mention that his firm did not ask for Lipstadt's estimated £3m costs (as the costs would not have been awarded): Some "victory"! As for his own role, if we read the 32 days of transcripts -- they are on my website -- we find that (like Lipstadt) the victorious Mr Julius did not open his mouth even once.
The same Mr Julius lost all but one of the interlocutory actions that preceded the main trial, although I was only an historian, acting in person; his most memorable defeat being on my summons on account of his firm's having wilfully concealed three videos which the Court found they should rightfully have disclosed.
Oh yes, he did triumph in one other libel action not mentioned in your profile. I brought suit against the Board of Deputies of British Jews in October 1996. Through its associates in Ontario, the Board had planted a defamatory dossier in Canadian government files in 1992 to ensure that I was banned from Canada.
Mr Julius and his firm acted for the Board. On that occasion they made no attempt to plead justification of the libels: instead, his firm accepted my naïve invitation that we negotiate an amicable settlement out of court, not involving any monetary award, merely a private retraction of the defamations. Mr Julius however proceeded to drag the negotiations out just long enough to push the case out of time, which they promptly pleaded, successfully, as their defense.
It was not one of his most heroic hours. On that occasion, November 14, 1996, he argued before Mr Justice Toulson that as the Board had published the document to only one party it was not a serious libel. I still hear Toulson J's ringing words: "Yes, Mr Julius, published only to one party -- to the Canadian government, with incalculable consequences for Mr Irving!"
Confronted with others who celebrate victories like these, it is sometimes an honour to lose.
write
to David Irving