Stephen's views on libel reform
I have backed the Libel Reform Campaign. As a Party the Liberal Democrats recognise the need for change, and so we have adopted a policy for radical reform of libel law at our party conference this year. My colleague Dr Evan Harris MP heads the Parliamentary campaign, working with English PEN, Index on Censorship and Sense About Science to support individual writers who are being sued, such as Dr Peter Wilsmhurst and Simon Singh, and hosted the launch of the National Petition for Libel Reform on the 10th of December 2009.
As a nation we have found ourselves in the position where doctors who criticise heart implants and journalists who expose corporate cynicism are being sued in our courts for libel, rather than being congratulated for trying to save lives. This has to change. While individuals need a right to redress if their reputation is damaged, our laws need to give more protection to the right to free expression.
English libel laws barely recognise the invention of the printing press, let alone the internet, and our outdated laws have become a scourge not only here, but abroad too. We see it as an embarrassment that foreigners can be sued in our courts on the flimsiest of pretexts, and that this has led the United Nations Human Rights Committee to take the view that our laws discourage "critical media reporting on matters of serious public interest, adversely affecting the ability of scholars and journalists to publish their work", and that 'libel tourism' could "affect freedom of expression world-wide on matters of valid public interest".
My Liberal Democrat colleagues and I have consistently campaigned for freedom of expression. We headed the successful campaign against over-broad laws on 'inciting religious hatred', which would have prevented criticism of religion, and also forced the government into abolishing the arcane laws of blasphemy and, most recently, sedition and criminal defamation.
The Liberal Democrats were also extremely concerned by the attempts of leading libel lawyers Carter Ruck, acting on behalf of Trafigura, to use the courts to prevent the media from reporting of parliamentary proceedings after the Guardian was injuncted from reporting that a question had been tabled. Liberal Democrat MPs asked for and led the debate in Westminster Hall, where we called the Government to protect the right of the public to know what their elected representatives are doing, in light of the attempts of powerful corporations to silence the media. You can read the transcript of the debate at the following website address: http://bit.ly/WH-trafigura
I hope you will be pleased to learn that on 15th December 2009 I signed EDM 423, which was tabled by my Liberal Democrat colleague Dr Evan Harris MP and states:
"That this House notes that human rights activists, scientists, writers and journalists are prevented from publishing, and the public prevented from reading, matters of strong public interest due to the chilling effect of English libel law; further notes that libel actions in England and Wales cost 100 times more than the European average; further notes that the costs of defending a libel case are usually prohibitive and that even successful defendants do not recover their full costs; further notes the report of the United Nations Committee on Human Rights which criticises English libel law for its stifling of free expression globally due to libel tourism whereby foreign complainants bring cases against foreign writers for alleged libel in overseas publications; believes that public interest is endangered by powerful vested interests and corporations being able to intimidate writers into not publishing; recognises the recent report by Index on Censorship and English PEN, Free speech is not for sale andfurther notes the campaign for scientific freedom by Sense About Science; welcomes the formation of the Libel Reform Coalition to campaign for law reform; and calls for a re-casting of the libel laws such that, while individual reputation is protected against malicious or reckless smears, lawful free expression is not chilled and there is a fully effective public interest defence for both scholarship and responsible journalism."
The Liberal Democrats will continue to support calls for a Libel Law Reform in Parliament, and will urge the other parties to follow our lead.
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