Foreign Libel Cases Are Still Held In London
Despite the new Defamation Act on which I talked in this post, individuals and companies, who are not ostensibly UK-based, continue to fight libel actions in the UK. Here’s a case reported on the BBC web site.
I can’t say I object to this, as I suspect a few nice fees are trousered by a few lawyers and hopefully, they’ll spend it in the UK to give employment to tailors, builders and a few other trades.
The problem comes, when these sort of cases are pursued against a small individual, like an impoverished blogger, who perhaps has said something like Liberace couldn’t play the piano.
The End Of The Beginning
Last night, I went to the celebration party of the Libel Reform Campaign at the FreeWord Centre in Farringdon. For a start, I liked the board outside the venue.
Free Word Of The Day
Ostensibly it was to celebrate the passing into law of the Defamation Act of 2013.
But there is still work to do. They gave out a flyer last night, which stated these loose ends to be tied.
- We need clarity that the new statutory public interest defence will not lead to the importation of the problems of the Reynolds defence.
- We are still awaiting new court procedures which must provide for early strike out of trivial claims along with the Government’s plans for costs protection.
- We need the regulations and procedures to accompany section 5 on internet publication to deliver an effective defence.
- The Northern Ireland Assembly has failed to adopt the Defamation Act.
My support has only been moral and financial in a small way. But if you read this blog you will find many stories where libel has been inappropriately used to suppress views or information.
As the post yesterday about Nespresso showed, big companies and powerful individuals, are not slow to use the law to protect their interests.
Hopefully though, the Defamation Act 2013 will have removed one of their most effective weapons, the inappropriate and threatening use of the law of libel.
We are in for some interesting times, as the lawyers of the powerful, search for new ways to suppress the truth.
But perhaps the biggest lesson of last night, was that a well-organised campaign, with the support of decent and right-thinking individuals, acting in the public interest, can successfully drive from conception to execution, by using the Internet and the media, and motivating the general public to push their legislators hard.
Similar tactics were used by the Lighter Later campaign, but sadly that well-run campaign I supported, was killed by the dinosaurs in Parliament. The difference was probably that, the Libel Reform Campaign had the backing of all three political parties.
The trouble is that some groups may use similar tactics and methods to stop projects and ideas, that most believe should be implemented. Two that come to mind are the cancer database announced yesterday and HS2.
If I was to propose a campaign, it would be one to make the UK fully metric. That will never happen.
Be Careful What You Tweet
Sally Bercow has dropped herself into it, by a tweet, that she meant to be conversational and mischievous. It’s all here on the BBC.
I might criticise people on this blog, but I’m very careful in criticising them only on subjects that are very much in the public domain and not just innuendo or gossip.
In some ways, I’m more likely to be sued not by a celebrity, but by some quack, who is promoting some scientifically-incorrect, who are I show the error of their ways.
Sue The Twits
It is reported on the front page of The Times, that Lord McAlpine is going to sue those who might have defamed him on Twitter. It’s also here in the Telegraph.
If I were him, I’d find the most well-known twit on the list with lots of money and sue just them. It wouldn’t cost me a fortune, but the returns could be high.
Brian Cox on Libel Reform
Brian Cox, the particle physicist or celebrity scientist, depending on your view has a piece published in today’s Evening Standard about libel law reform in the UK.
It is a well-written piece that deserves to be read. As does Libel Law Reform’s web site.
Why Is A School Using Libel Lawyers?
On BBC London News this evening, there has been a story about a primary school, using well-known libel lawyers to sue their local council for damages over something written in a report. I didn’t get the full story, but I shall be watching later tonight and searching the papers in the morning.
After all, as a taxpayer, I don’t like schools wasting money and hiring libel lawyers definitely comes under that category.
C did her first pupillage as a barrister in libel chambers and it never ceased to amaze her how much money was wasted by clients in cases.
The Anonymous Widower 