page_title: Rhodes v OPO
section_title: Supreme Court
hierarchical_section_title: Rhodes v OPO / Judgment / Supreme Court
caption_attribution_description: English: James Rhodes, classical pianist, performs at the Classical Brits Nominations Launch at the Mayfair Hotel in London, UK
context_page_description: Rhodes v OPO [2015] UKSC 32 was a 2015 judgment by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom that overturned an injunction preventing the publication of a memoir entitled Instrumental by concert pianist James Rhodes.
context_section_description: The Supreme Court held that the tort under Wilkinson v Downton consists of three elements:
  A conduct element
  A mental element
  A consequence element
  The conduct element requires "words or conduct directed towards the claimant for which there is no justification or reasonable excuse, and the burden of proof is on the claimant." In the present case the court placed great emphasis on freedom of speech and held that "freedom to report the truth is a basic right to which the law gives a very high level of protection."
  The mental element meanwhile requires an "intention to cause physical harm or severe mental or emotional distress". This overruled the Court of Appeal judgment that held recklessness to be sufficient. It was held that Rhodes did not intend to cause psychiatric harm or severe mental or emotional distress to his son.
  The consequence element requires evidence of physical harm or recognised psychiatric illness but was not relevant in this case.
  The court decided that the appeal should be allowed and Instrumental by James Rhodes was published by Canongate Books as an e-book on 25 May 2015 and a hardback edition was published on 28 May 2015.
caption: Classical pianist James Rhodes
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