Secular Café: Reform of the libel laws in the UK

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Reform of the libel laws in the UK May 2nd 2013, 03:33 An analysis here from Sense about Science, which is an organisation aiming for prevention of more cases like the Homeopaths against Simon Singh. http://www.senseaboutscience.org/dat...mation_Act.pdf Quote: The Defamation Bill has been agreed by Parliament and is awaiting Royal Assent to become the Defamation Act 2013. We have campaigned for four years for a law that would be less expensive and complicated, up to date and less able to be used to chill free speech worldwide. The Libel Reform Campaign has focused on the most significant of the problems with the law, which were also the areas where change was most resisted. We campaigned for the conversion of the common law Reynolds defence into a clearer, stronger, more accessible statutory public interest defence; an end to the ability of claimants to censor criticism extra-judicially by threatening innocent web hosts with libel actions; restrictions on the ability of corporations to sue in libel, as applies to public bodies; easier 'strike out' of trivial or inappropriate claims by raising the threshold of harm before a libel action can proceed. We campaigned for reforms that would produce a law that anyone can read to understand their rights. Until now the laws were mainly in common law, the development of which proceeds slowly in libel as there are few cases. The Defamation Bill 2012 was the first time Parliament had debated wholesale libel reform since 1843.

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