9 Jul 2010 | News and features
The government’s announcement today brings forward the first attempt at wholesale libel law reform in over a century
The Libel Reform Campaign has welcomed the announcement this afternoon by Justice Minister Lord McNally that the new coalition government will prioritise and bring forward a Libel Reform Bill by the 2011/2012 parliamentary sessions, after a consultation this summer.
Lord McNally emphasised that this was not a “vague promise” but a “firm commitment to act on this matter”. The Justice Minister also promised that the reform will ensure a “fair balance is struck between freedom of expression and the protection of reputation”.
After a national campaign that mobilised 52,000 supporters, English PEN, Index on Censorship and Sense About Science persuaded all three political parties to adopt libel reform in their general election manifestos.
Lord McNally said: “We recognise the concerns raised in recent months about the detrimental effects that the current law may be having on freedom of expression – particularly in relation to academic and scientific debate, the work of non-governmental organisations and investigative journalism.”
“We want to ensure that the right balance is achieved so people who have been defamed are able to take action to protect their reputation but so that freedom of speech is not unjustifiably impeded.”
The lack of a robust public interest defence for writers, scientists and human rights activists has led to English libel law being condemned by the UN human rights committee and Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport select committee. In recent years, there have been increasing instances of ‘libel tourism’ where wealthy foreign claimants use the High Court in London to silence their critics. Another area of concern is the multiple publication rule, which counts every internet visit in a new jurisdiction as a new instance of defamation. This judicial ruling predates the light bulb yet is still used in judgements in internet defamation cases. Currently, 90 per cent of libel cases in England and Wales are won by claimants, taking a case here costs 140 times the European average, and in a survey of GPs, half said they do not discuss drug safety because of fear of a libel action.
John Kampfner, the CEO of Index on Censorship said:
Today the government listened to the 52,000 people who backed the English PEN, Index on Censorship and Sense About Science campaign to redesign our libel laws and have committed, for the first time in a century, to wholesale reform. We are delighted, but obviously we’ll need to see how bold the government will be – they must stop libel tourism, cut the obscene legal costs involved and give cast iron protections to free speech.
Jonathan Heawood, the Director of English PEN said:
Until the Libel Reform Bill is actually passed, the right to free speech in this country will be conditional on writers or scientists having deep pockets or a willingness to fight for years through the Courts. It should no longer be a matter for judges but Parliamentarians should decide on how we balance free expression and reputation.
Tracey Brown, the Managing Director of Sense About Science said:
Lord Lester’s Bill is the first time in over a century that there has been a case for fundamental reform before Parliament. We are delighted that the government has responded. The Libel Reform Campaign, supported by over 50,000 people and many leading commentators, will continue doing all we can to ensure that the minister’s response to the debate today is translated into meaningful change in the lives of bloggers, science writers, NGOs and small publications facing threats and bankruptcy under the current laws.
The Libel Reform Campaign is a coalition of English PEN, Index on Censorship and Sense About Science. For more information please visit: http://www.libelreform.org
9 Jul 2010 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
China confirms it has renewed Google’s internet licence. Making the announcement on Google’s company blog, chief legal officer David Drummond said:
We are very pleased that the government has renewed our ICP licence and we look forward to continuing to provide web search and local products to our users in China.
Google’s relationship with China has been strained since it announced in March that it would no longer censor its search services in China. Instead it began to redirect Chinese users to Google’s unfiltered Hong Kong site. In a bid to have its licence renewed last month the company redesigned its google.cn landing page. Instead of automatically redirecting them to the Hong Kong site, it now offers them a link to google.hk instead. Google chief legal officer David Drummond defended the change in direction saying that “Without an ICP licence, we can’t operate a commercial website like Google.cn—so Google would effectively go dark in China.”
9 Jul 2010 | News and features
Media strikes over Silvio Berlusconi’s ‘gag law’ — Italian journalists fall silent to protest PM’s wiretap bill. Benedetta Brevini reports
It’s a first, an official day of media silence in Italy. Just a taste of what could become a permanent silence, if the prime minister’s “gag law” is not stopped in time. Italian newsstands are empty today because reporters and editors on all major newspapers began a 24-hour strike yesterday and radio, TV and internet journalists are due to join the protest today. The media are protesting against a law that will seriously compromise freedom of speech in Italy. Even in a polarised country like Silvio Berlusconi’s Italy, this strike is extraordinary, and not just for its scale. It represents the final act of months of campaigns, debates and appeals. Opposition to the legislation has united journalists, magistrates, policemen, publishers and civil society organisations for the first time.
The measures, passed by the senate in June, will limit journalists’ freedom to investigate, but will also restrict magistrates’ criminal probes. The bill restricts police use of wiretaps in a move Berlusconi has cast as protecting citizen’s privacy. Critics point out it would also protect Italy’s scandal prone prime minister. The proposed curb on the use of wiretaps during investigations will limit the number of days police are allowed to intercept communications. Under the current system, 18-month warrants are the norm, but the new measures will allowing monitoring for only 75 days.
The new law would curb the use of wiretaps during investigations, under the current system, 18-month warrants are the norm, but the new measures will limit the number of days’ worth of communication interceptions to 75 days. All these measures have been heavily criticised by the police and legal authorities. Wiretaps have traditionally played a crucial role in Italian criminal investigations and have led to the arrest of high profile mafia bosses. On a visit to Rome in June, the US Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer expressed concerns over the bill. He explained that “from a prosecutor’s point of view, you don’t want anything to occur that prevents the Italians from doing as good a job (in fighting organised crime) as they have in the past”.
The law will also undoubtedly curtail freedom of expression, a right that in Italy is protected by article 21 of the constitution. Journalists would risk jail and publishers could be fined up to €450,00 for reporting the contents of wiretaps before a defendant is sent to trial. Italy has one of the slowest justice systems in the world and this could mean that Italian citizens would only learn about cases of public interest after a four-or-five-year delay, if ever.
Fortunately, the mounting dissent has gone beyond Italian borders. Last month, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OCSE) representative on freedom of the media Dunja Mijatovic condemned the bill, explaining that “the draft law” “contradicts OSCE commitments, as it prohibits the use of some confidential sources and materials which may be necessary for meaningful investigative journalism”. Calls for intervention by the European Union have also not gone unheard. On 14 June, a group of members of the European Parliament, captained by Jean Marie Cavada, urged member states “to monitor and ensure full compliance with the principle of media independence by fully enforcing article 11 of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights” and “to prevent undue interference in the work of journalists and media”. This is a plea that obviously refers to the Italian situation. And, in June, the European commissioner Viviane Reding assured opponents that once the law is adopted, the EU “will closely review the text” of the law and “will check it against the principle of press and information freedom, always defended by the European Commission”. In spite of the intense opposition to the bill, the legislative process runs on unaffected and the discussion will resume in the Chamber of Deputies on 29 July.
Today’s strike is the media’s last ditch attempt to stop the measures and to raise awareness among Italian citizens. In a country where readership of newspapers is among the lowest of Europe and where television is directly or indirectly controlled by the prime minister, is not always easy to get the message through. Yet the daily newspaper La Repubblica expressed its hope that “the media blackout will speak to the public and the citizens will finally know that there is a problem they should be concerned with.” Let’s just hope that the media silence isn’t permanent.
Benedetta Brevini is a journalist and researcher in European media policy and politics at the University of Westminster, London. She has worked as a journalist in Milan, New York and London.
8 Jul 2010 | Index Index, News and features
Home Secretary Theresa May is to halt searches of individuals without reasonable suspicion after the European Court of Human Rights rules the power unlawful. Leah Borromeo reports
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