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www.legalweek.com
March 15, 2011
Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke has unveiled a raft of new proposals to reform libel law in England and Wales and bolster freedom of speech.
The draft Defamation Bill sets out a number of changes to current defamation laws, including a requirement for claimaints to demonstrate ‘substantial harm’ before a claim can be pursued.
With regards to the much-touted issue of libel tourism, the bill proposes that defamation against a person who is not based in the UK can now only be heard in domestic courts if it is “clearly the most appropriate place”.
Libel tourism is a term that describes the practice of court shopping by plaintiffs in order to choose jurisdictions thought more likely to give a favourable result. It particularly refers to the practice of pursuing a case in England and Wales, in preference to other jurisdictions, such as the United States, which provide more extensive defences for those accused of making derogatory statements. (Wikipedia)
The draft Defamation Bill is available HERE.
The UK bill goes in the same direction than the decision rendered in 2009 by the Supreme Court of Canada in Grant v.Torstar Corp. The judges affected to the case made the point that the Canadian jurisprudence regarding defamation had been too restrictive for the freedom of expression until then. They stated what follows: “[39] While the law should provide redress for baseless attacks on reputation, defamation lawsuits, real or threatened, should not be a weapon by which the wealthy and privileged stifle the information and debate essential to a free society”.
