At a glance-
Taking the Offensive – defending artistic freedom of expression in the UK
Widespread self-censorship and fear of causing offence is suppressing creativity and ideas in the United Kingdom, according to a conference report published by Index on Censorship.
-
UK: Draft Royal Charter on Self-Regulation of the Press and Amendments to the Crime and Courts Bill
In this legal analysis, ARTICLE 19 reviews the provisions of the Draft Royal Charter on Self-Regulation of the Press, recently drafted by the three biggest political parties in the United Kingdom, and the relevant provisions of the Amendments of the Crime and Courts Bill, currently pending in parliament.
-
Attacks on the Press in 2011: United Kingdom
"Libel laws strongly favour the plaintiff and enable a damaging practice known as 'libel tourism'"
-
Press Freedom Index 2011-2012: United Kingdom
News of the World wiretapping scandal draws attention to government's inability to protect privacy of its citizens
17 November 2009
Alert
Defamation decriminalised
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - 13 November 2009 - ARTICLE 19 welcomes the United Kingdom's decriminalisation of defamation and calls on the government to maintain its leadership by reforming the UK's infamous civil defamation legislation.
The Coroners and Justice Bill was given Royal Assent and became an Act of Parliament (law) at 16h47 on 12 November 2009.
The Coroners and Justice Act (2009) decriminalises defamation, including repeal of the criminal offences of sedition and seditious libel, defamatory libel, and obscene libel in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
ARTICLE 19 and our partners have been campaigning for the decriminalisation of defamation in the UK for several years. Criminal defamation has not been used in the UK since the 1970s, but its "chilling effect" remains. Moreover, states around the world justify their persistent use of criminal defamation according to the example set by the UK.
In many countries, criminal defamation laws are abused by the powerful to limit criticism and to stifle public debate. The threat of harsh criminal sanctions, especially imprisonment, exerts a profound chilling effect on freedom of expression.
Now that defamation has been decriminalised, ARTICLE 19 calls on the government to reform the UK's over-broad civil defamation laws. In particular, the laws should require that plaintiffs should prove the falsity of statements, block foreign plaintiffs from using UK courts to silence non-UK speakers, require courts to consider the public interest in publication, limit excessive lawyers' fees, which can currently run into millions of pounds in a single case, and update the laws to better protect Internet publications.
Source:
- Most covered free expression issues in this country
RSS