03 Dec 09 | Uncategorized
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.
25 Apr 09 | Uncategorized
This is a guest post by Martin Bright
The sacking of Christopher Galley, the Home Office civil servant who leaked documents to the Conservative Party, demonstrates the golden rule in such cases: the whistleblower always suffers. As a serial recipient of leaks, I know this is defeatist talk, but journalists and their publications should recognise this as a fact.
The criminal case against Galley and his Tory ‘handler’ Damian Green MP collapsed this week. But Galley was still dismissed for gross professional misconduct. In times like these, depriving someone of their job is a serious matter, especially when it leaves a disciplinary charge on the CV.
This is a particularly vindictive way to approach a whistleblower, especially cruel when the information he leaked should have been in the public domain anyway. I don’t believe there isn’t somewhere in the vast Home Office bureaucracy that Galley could have been found a job (well away from confidential documents if necessary).
The same is true of Derek Pasquill, the Foreign Office whistleblower who leaked details of the government’s relationship with radical Islam to me. Derek was also dismissed, despite the immense service he did to the country and the government (its policy changed as a direct result of his disclosures).
I believe there is a duty of care on the part of those who directly benefit from the work of whistleblowers towards those who have taken risks on their behalf. Derek Pasquill is fighting his dismissal, and I believe the New Statesman, the Observer and the think tank Policy Exchange (the publishers of his allegations), should help him with his legal costs.
The same is true for the Conservative Party in this case, which should help Christopher Galley back into employment immediately.
19 Dec 08 | Uncategorized
The New Statesman has apologised to businessman Nadhmi Auchi over a link posted on its website to previously published articles.
The apology, on the front page of the magazine’s website, reads:
We recently published links to articles originally published by others which made serious allegations about Nadhmi Auchi. A number of these allegations have now been withdrawn by their original UK publishers on the grounds that they contained significant inaccuracies and we fully accept that to be the case. We should like to offer our sincere apologies to Mr Auchi for any distress he has suffered as a result of our linking to the articles..
05 Nov 08 | News and features
The New Statesman has removed a post from the blog of political editor Martin Bright after a threat of legal action from Iraqi billionaire Nadhmi Auchi.
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