Straw libel reform
But there were some important omissions from the announcement:
NO commitment to change the burden of proof to match other areas of law. Defendants will still have to prove the truth of their stories rather than claimants proving falsity.
NO expansion of the fair comment defence.
NO cap on damages or fees
NO low cost libel tribunal (my favourite Libel Reform Campaign proposal).
NO Exempting large companies from using the libel law
Although a commitment from the government to change the libel law is welcome, it is possible to interpret the announcement as being distinctly half-hearted.
YES there is a commitment to move away from the multiple publication rule so that publishers can only be used once. However, this is not new and one of the options being considered in the Justice Ministry's consultation paper is extending the one year period in which people can sue, possibly giving them as long as 10 years.
YES there is a commitment to a statutory public interest defence to protect investigative reports and similar. But what will it look like. This could be an excellent thing. It could mean no more than codifying the public interest (Reynolds) defence which already exists in common law.
NO there is actually no commitment to change the law to prevent libel tourism, although Jack Straw has said he will ask the Civil Procedure Rule Committee to consider tightening the rules where the court’s permission is required to serve defamation cases outside England and Wales. As far as I can see, this will only have a peripheral effect. It would not, for example have prevented Roman Polanski from suing Vanity Fair. Would it have stopped Cameron Diaz from suing the National Enquirer?
Opposition to libel reform is gearing up and it will be significant. Already the proposal to change the fees lawyers can charge in no-win no-fee cases has come under fire. The problem with Jack Straw's announcement is that it leaves him a lot of room for manoeuvre.
Jack Straw's rhetoric was impressive. His commitments less so. If we are going to reform libel, let's start with something more ambitious than this.
Links on libel reform:
Ministry of Justice announcement.
Report of the libel working group (PDF)
Press Gazette: Libel Reform Bill to achieve 'fair balance' in libel
Guardian: Libel reform bill to tackle 'libel tourism'
Guardian:Government to 'end abuse' of UK libel laws
Guardian:Lawyers threaten to seek judicial review over cuts in libel fees
Libel Reform Campaign's report
Libel Reform Campaign's response to Jack Straw's announcement
The Lawyer: Allen Green asks "Is libel reform now really possible?"
NoodleMaz's account of the Libel Reform Lobby on 23 March
Labels: Journalism, Media law














