Britain wants to change its 'embarrassing' Libel LawAccording to UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Britain’s libel laws have become an international embarrassment. In most countries, the plaintiff must prove that a published article was both false and written maliciously. Not so in the UK, where the defendant must demonstrate that what was published was true.
As a result, the UK has become a haven for foreign corporations and celebrities, creating “libel tourism”. They opt to sue in British courts, even when the case has only a very weak connection to the U.K. – with success. In 2006, American actress Kate Hudson successfully sued the US-based National Enquirer for libel in London, based on the fact that the Enquirer also has a British edition. Saudi businessman Shaikh Khalid Bin Mahfouz successfully sued an American academic over a U.S.-published book about the financing of terrorism. The book had sold a grand total of 23 copies in the UK.
As a result, the UK has become a haven for foreign corporations and celebrities, creating “libel tourism”. They opt to sue in British courts, even when the case has only a very weak connection to the U.K. – with success. In 2006, American actress Kate Hudson successfully sued the US-based National Enquirer for libel in London, based on the fact that the Enquirer also has a British edition. Saudi businessman Shaikh Khalid Bin Mahfouz successfully sued an American academic over a U.S.-published book about the financing of terrorism. The book had sold a grand total of 23 copies in the UK.
Clegg is not happy about this. In a speech on civil liberties, he said that the existing laws “have a chilling effect on journalism and scientific debate. It is simply not right when academics and journalists are effectively bullied into silence by the prospect of costly legal battles with wealthy individuals and big businesses. Nor should foreign claimants be able to exploit these laws, bringing cases against foreign defendants here to our courts - even if the connection with England is tenuous. It is a farce - and an international embarrassment - that the American Congress has felt it necessary to legislate to protect their citizens from our libel laws."
He went on to publicly proclaim that the system has become "a farce and an international embarrassment." Glegg is working on a new draft defamation law that would “introduce a new defense of speaking in the public interest, and clarify the existing libel defenses to stop claimants suing on what are essentially trivial grounds."
Users of social networks are not forgotten - the law would be updated to give more protection to people who write on the Internet. Good news for bloggers, Facebookworms, and Twitterati.
Representatives of the Libel Reform Campaign, which includes Index on Censorship, Sense about Science and English PEN, said they welcomed the announcement.
He went on to publicly proclaim that the system has become "a farce and an international embarrassment." Glegg is working on a new draft defamation law that would “introduce a new defense of speaking in the public interest, and clarify the existing libel defenses to stop claimants suing on what are essentially trivial grounds."
Users of social networks are not forgotten - the law would be updated to give more protection to people who write on the Internet. Good news for bloggers, Facebookworms, and Twitterati.
Representatives of the Libel Reform Campaign, which includes Index on Censorship, Sense about Science and English PEN, said they welcomed the announcement.
"The deputy prime minister has not only acknowledged the chilling effect of our defamation laws, but taken our demands for reform fully on board," John Kampfner, chief executive of Index on Censorship said in a release. "We’re delighted that that in tone and detail the draft bill will go a long way to tackling the chill on free speech emanating from English courts."
The government's draft bill will be opened up to consultation in the coming months.The government has also published a consultation paper on proposals by Lord Justice Jackson to reform civil litigation funding in an attempt to "make costs more proportionate, more fair", Clegg stated.
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