Judicial Procedure, Transnational

• Author: International Law Group

The plaintiff, Roman Polanski, the well-known film director, is a French citizen, residing in France. He has sued Conde Nast Publications Limited (defendant) in the English courts for libel. It stems from an article in the July 2002 issue of "Vanity Fair" magazine which circulates, inter alia, in the United Kingdom.

The alleged libel arose from the following related incidents. On the night of August 8, 1969, members of the Manson gang had murdered plaintiff's wife, the actress Sharon Tate, at their home in California. Plaintiff was working in London at the time. He flew to California and stayed there until after his wife's funeral on August 13. On his way back from Los Angeles to London he stopped over in New York City and, toward the end of August, went to "Elaine's" restaurant to meet Mia Farrow.

Here are some key excerpts from the "Vanity Fair" article as quoted by the House of Lords. "I was sitting at a table with a friend of mine who had brought the most gorgeous Swedish girl you ever laid eyes on. ... Polanski came over and asked to join us. ... The Swedish beauty was sitting next to me. Polanski pulled up a chair and inserted himself between us, immediately focusing his attention on the beauty, inundating her with his Polish charm. Fascinated by his performance, I watched as he slid his hand inside her thigh and began a long, honeyed spiel which ended with the promise 'And I will make another Sharon Tate out of you'."

Plaintiff initially asked for an apology and a retraction which defendant declined. Plaintiff then filed the present English suit in August 2002. Though most plaintiffs wish to, and do, testify live at the trials of their cases, this plaintiff raised a difficulty. He was determined to avoid entering the U.K. to give trial testimony because he was a fugitive from U.S. criminal justice and afraid of being extradited there.

In August of 1977, plaintiff had pleaded guilty before a California court to a charge of illegal copulation with a thirteen-year-old girl. After spending 42 days in state prison while undergoing court-ordered tests, plaintiff fled to France (whose constitution bars the extradition of French citizens) before the judge could sentence him. Since that time, he has avoided all sojourns to either the U.S. or the U. K.

His English attorney, therefore, asked for a pre-trial order allowing plaintiff to be deposed from France by means of a video conference link (VCF) pursuant to Civil Procedure Rule SI 1998/3132, Pt. 32.2. It...