Jack Straw’s move is welcome, but cosmetic surgery won’t be enough to end this international embarrassment, writes
Jo Glanville
CATEGORY: Europe and Central Asia
Straw commits to libel reform
The Justice Secretary is reported to have pledged to make English defamation laws fairer. Index on Censorship reports
Digital bankruptcy
Lord Mandelson seems hellbent on stifling online creativity, says Bill Thompson
Libel reform: Carter-Ruck defends defamation rules
Carter-Ruck partner Nigel Tait has responded to English PEN and Index on Censorship’s libel reform report. By Padraig Reidy
Azerbaijan: donkey video bloggers sentenced
Bloggers Adnan Hajizada and Emin Milli were sentenced on 11 November to two years and two-and-a-half years in prison respectively. Human rights groups and analysts believe the sentences are politically motivated, and that the they were sentenced on...
No thank you, Mr Straw
Secret inquiries seriously undermine the principle of open justice, says
Daniel Machover
Libel reform: What the papers say
English PEN and Index on Censorship‘s report, Free Speech is not for sale, has attracted coverage from a broad range of media
Libel reform: The laws that stain Britain’s good name
As Index on Censorship and English Pen launch “Free Speech is Not For Sale”, a damning report on English libel laws, John Kampfner highlights the pressing need for reform
The Libel Report: The silence of the arts, the press, science, charities…
A new report by English PEN Index on Censorship argues that fear of libel action means that freedom of expression is under threat as never before, John Kampfner tells the Independent’s Ian Burrell
Iraq inquiry: silencing witnesses
Public hearings into the Iraq war are set to begin on 24 November, the panel’s chairman Sir John Chilcot said today. But witnesses still do not know whether the evidence they give will ever make its way into the public domain, says Chris Ames