02 Dec 09 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
High Court judge, Mr Justice Eady suggested yesterday that Parliament has no power to repeal privacy laws that have developed over the past decade and claimed he has been singled out as a target by the press. Eady, who has presided over almost all of the most high-profile privacy cases in recent years says he was targeted by Daily Mail editor, Paul Dacre, after he awarded an unprecedented £60,000 in damages to Max Mosley, for a breach of privacy by the News of the World. Eady also said he thought “libel tourism” was a “phenomenon” largely invented by the media. Read more here and here
22 Nov 09 | Uncategorized
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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15 Oct 09 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
The governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, yesterday signed a law that will allow the state’s courts to refuse to enforce British libel judgments. The new law effectively negates the practice of libel tourism.
The California legislation now gives courts power to block libel judgments from Britain which has, say politicians, “become a jurisdictional Mecca for the rich and famous”.
Read more here
14 Sep 09 | Comment
Libel tourist Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz has left an unexpected legacy, says Rachel Ehrenfeld. US reporters may soon be free from the threat of English libel laws
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