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Libel laws group announced
Oliver Luft Press Gazette
DATELINE: 27/1/10
Justice Secretary Jack Straw has set up a working group of senior journalists and figures from the legal profession to consider changes to the laws on libel. The group, which includes Sunday Times editor John Witherow alongside executives from law firms Cater-Ruck and Shillings, will examine the possibility that current libel laws are having a "chilling effect" on freedom of expression, Straw said today.
The group will be chaired by Rowena Collins-Rice, the chief legal officer at the Ministry of Justice, and is expected to make its recommendations by mid-March.
Straw laid out the terms for a formal review of the libel laws late last months saying it would "consider whether the law of libel, including the law relating to libel tourism, in England and Wales needs reform, and if so to make recommendations as to solutions". He said today: "The working group is intended to have an intensive, short term focus and has been requested to make recommendations by mid-March."
The review will look at the issue of whether academics and scientists can defend remarks on the basis of fair comment or the public interest.The working party is also expected to look at whether the burden of proof should be shifted from defendant to plaintiff. In addition, it is expected to examine a number of issues raise by a report published jointly between English PEN and Index on Censorship including considering the case for capping the level of damages courts can award.
Other issues for examination include whether large and medium-sized corporations would have to prove malicious falsehood for a libel claim to succeed and the implications of the internet for libel.
The group will also consider if specialist libel tribunal should be established to deal with defamation cases away from court. The issue of costs incurred through of defamation proceedings is not to be considered as it is the subject of a separate Justice Ministry consultation.
Appeal Court judge Justice Jackson produced a 557-page report earlier this month examining the costs related to civil court proceeds in England & Wales that singled out media law as being one area with particularly high costs.
Straw then outlined proposals that could see libel cost dramatically reduced with the limits on success fees charged by lawyers in "no win, no fee" cases cut by 90 per cent.
Working Group Members:
David Banks (Media Law Consultant)
Sir Leszek Borysiewicz (Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council)
Tracey Brown (Managing Director, Sense About Science)
Desmond Browne QC (Barrister, 5 Raymond Buildings)
Rod Christie-Miller (Partner and Chief Executive at Schillings, Solicitors)
Robin Esser (Executive Managing Editor, Daily Mail)
Jo Glanville (Editor, Index on Censorship)
Jonathan Heawood (Director, English PEN)
Tony Jaffa (Head of the Media Team at Foot Anstey, Solicitors)
Sarah Jones (Head of Litigation and Intellectual Property, BBC)
Marcus Partington (Chair of Media Lawyers Association, and Legal Director, Mirror Group Newspapers)
Gillian Phillips (Director of Editorial Legal Services, The Guardian)
Gavin Phillipson (Professor at Durham Law School)
Mark Stephens (Partner at Stephens Finer Innocent, Solicitors)
Andrew Stephenson (Partner at Carter Ruck, Solicitors)
Paul Tweed (Senior Partner at Johnsons Solicitors)
John Witherow (Editor, Sunday Times).
Last modified: Wednesday, January 27, 2010
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Notices
Events & Announcements
World Press Freedom Day
More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
DATELINE: 27/4/13
UK launch of EU media campaign
DATELINE: 13/3/13
The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
A European Citizens' Initiative is an official petition, like a Downing Street petition. If it succeeds in gathering a million signatures across the EU, the Commission is obliged to respond.
This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
CPBF Annual General Meeting
DATELINE: 1/3/13
Make a note in your diary
Saturday 13 July 2013 from 10.00am
NUJ HQ, 308/312 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1.
Leveson, media ownership, CPBF future work.
DOWNLOAD FREEPRESS NOW
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Download Freepress in PDF, ePub or mobi format. Issue 194 now available.
MEDIA FOR ALL CONFERENCE
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MEDIA MANIFESTO
DATELINE: 26/3/10
The media’s job is to inform and entertain us but we rely on them too to tell us what our rulers and representatives are up to. In the run-up to the Iraq war the government used spin and disinformation in the media to create panic and mislead people. The truth is coming out now, but we need stronger, more independent media to be able to scrutinise governments and make informed choices.
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Previous stories
Government Policy
Alastair Campbell's 'unprecedented' role in preparing dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction
CPBF submission to DCMS consultation on product placement on television
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Scottish parliament inquiry into local newspaper decline
Straw to look at libel law reform
Response to Digital Britain
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Campaign opposes U-turn on product placement
Government to reverse policy on TV product placement
Damian McBride and the reality behind Labour smears
Little comfort for journalists in Digital Britain
"I will abide by civil service neutrality" says Downing Street's new spin supremo.
Speaker's call for an end to ministerial leaks: Downing Street's new media chief could play a role
Photographers snap into action over new law
Audiovisual Media Services Directive in the UK
Televised briefings are the way forward
Media gagged in the case of Daniel James
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New Threat to Media Freedom
Blair's farewell: No politician can live by spin alone
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Current Affairs and Ofcom
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