Long-needed reform of libel laws takes huge step forward

There is now increasing momentum and appetite for wholesale reform of English libel law, with Labour making serious moves for reform in the increasingly short time left before the election. Last night, Justice Secretary Jack Straw announced that he intended to cut significantly – by up to 90 per cent – the amount that lawyers can claim in ‘success fees’ on conditional fee arrangements (CFAs), otherwise known as ‘no win, no fee’ deals.

English-judges He said:

“Lawyers need to recover their costs and be rewarded for their efforts and the risks they undertake when providing people with access to justice in “no win, no fee” cases. But evidence suggests that the regular doubling of fees that currently takes place is simply not justified and the balance of costs between claimant and defendant needs to be reconsidered.”

As it stands, defendants in libel trials face not just their own costs, but the costs of the claimant which under a CFA are doubled (the success fee) and often the claimant’s ATE (After The Event insurance) – which can be another 60 per cent of the claimant’s costs again. This makes defending a libel action against an opponent with a CFA and ATE nearly 400 per cent as costly as it would be under normal circumstances.

Recognising this, campaigners English PEN and Index on Censorship’s report on libel law, “Free Speech is Not for Sale”, recommended a substantial cut in the cost of libel cases, allowing greater access to justice for both claimants and defendants.

The Libel Reform Campaign, a coalition of Index on Censorship, English PEN and Sense About Science, is backed by Left Foot Forward.

• More than 12,500 people have signed the online petition; to sign visit libelreform.org/sign

http://twitter.com/shamikdas/status/7994692897 Shamik Das

Sign up here: http://www.libelreform.org/sign RT @leftfootfwd: Long-needed reform of libel laws takes huge step forward: http://is.gd/6Gh6Q
http://twitter.com/tchee/status/7994792657 Tracey Cheetham

RT @shamikdas: Sign up here: http://bit.ly/5b0LDS RT @leftfootfwd: Long-needed reform of libel laws – huge step forward: http://is.gd/6Gh6Q
David T

Fantastic news
http://twitter.com/hayley_dm/status/7995299872 Hayley Moseley

RT @leftfootfwd: Long-needed reform of libel laws takes huge step forward: http://is.gd/6Gh6Q
http://twitter.com/gsdog7/status/7996492991 gsdog7

RT @leftfootfwd: Long-needed reform of libel laws takes huge step forward: http://is.gd/6Gh6Q
http://www.ubervu.com/conversations/www.leftfootforward.org/2010/01/long-needed-reform-of-libel-law-takes-huge-step-forward/ uberVU – social comments

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http://twitter.com/blogsoftheworld/status/8003640062 blogs of the world

Following Jack Straw's announcement that libel lawyers' success fees would be cut by 90 per cent, campaign… http://reduce.li/qows9c #huge
http://www.evanprice.blogspot.com Evan Price

I am not sure that the limiting the recoverable costs of libel proceedings will be a ‘huge step forward’ at all. Making a partisan point for a moment it is entertaining to note that the CFA arrangements were part of the Government’s reforms to the procedure of civil proceedings – and that the lawyers (both solicitors and barristers) warned them of these sorts of problems …

There is a problem with libel and it needs to be looked at as a whole, rather than piecemeal. The maintenance of juries in these cases, the burden of proving each element, the definition of fair comment, justification and other defences, the availability of simple and cost effective remedies including interim remedies, the balance between the genuinely defamed and the rights of free speech, the privileges that remain for newspapers and journals, the effect of the internet and the status of ‘facilitators’ and their liabilities all need to be considered, preferably by the Law Commission, rather than on the basis of a partial journalists’ campaign.
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2010/02/libel-campaigners-welcome-select-committee-report-as-a-good-defence-of-quality-journalism/ Libel campaigners welcome select committee report as a “good defence of quality journalism” | Left Foot Forward

[...] Reform Campaign and put together recommendations that if taken forward by the justice secretary’s working party on libel reform would lead to a great leap forward in freedom of [...]