Jack Straw has noticed the clamour for change. Reform of our unfair defamation laws must now become a manifesto pledge, says Padraig Reidy
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This week’s New Statesman features an interview with Justice Secretary Jack Straw. NS editor Jason Cowley writes:
Straw told me he is determined to introduce immediate and substantive reform. He is drawing up proposals to “introduce a radically reduced cap on the level of excessive success fees in defamation cases”. He would not confirm what the exact cap will be, though reformers hope it may be as low as, say, 10 per cent. At present, success fees can be as high as 100 per cent of costs. “Our libel laws are having a chilling effect. By definition, it’s not hitting the most profitable international media groups, News International or Associated Newspapers, though it’s not good news for them. It is hitting the press vital to our democracy but whose finances are much more difficult, and that includes magazines, one or two of the nationals, and regional and local newspapers. That’s why I will be changing the law on defamation costs . . . and I’m anxious to get ahead on this.”
It’s encouraging that Straw is talking seriously about this, but, as with his counterpart Dominic Grieve, his focus seems to be on the expense of the libel courts. While there is no doubt expense is a massive issue, it is worth restating: people sue here not only because they can win lots of money, but also because they have a very, very good chance of winning, as so many factors are weighted in the plaintiff’s favour.
Lowering the expense of libel cases may allow for greater access to the courts for ordinary people, and give people a greater chance of mounting a defence (and indeed a complaint), but it won’t necessarily make the courts themselves more just.
Justice Secretary Jack Straw is to establish a working group to examine England’s controversial libel laws. The group will consist of media lawyers, editors and experts. The government has also said it will respond to English Pen and Index on Censorship’s libel report, along with recommendations by the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee within two months of the publication of the Select Committee report.
The working group is expected to convene in January 2010.
Originally published in the Sunday Times
When another country introduces laws to protect its citizens from your courts, you have a problem. When that country happens to be your closest ally in times of war and peace, you have a crisis. That is the state of English libel law.
Both houses of Congress are considering bills that, if passed as expected, will prevent US courts from enforcing libel judgments issued overseas if the content would not be considered defamatory under American law.
It was against this backdrop that Index on Censorship, the anti-censorship organisation, and English PEN, a group that supports persecuted writers, embarked on a year-long inquiry into the state of our legislation. Our report, launched on November 10, created a storm of interest here and across the Atlantic, with each of our 10 proposals closely scrutinised.
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