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FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
UNITED KINGDOM: LIBEL LAWS CAST CHILL OVER PUBLISHERS
London
is known as the "libel capital of the world," a haven for rich and
powerful claimants from other countries who are using the courts to stifle
scrutiny of their dealings, reports "Index on Censorship" magazine.
With financial factors increasingly determining whether publishers choose to
defend their writers in English courts, there are fears that the country's
libel laws are casting a chill over freedom of expression.
Writing
in "Index on Censorship," Professor Marcel Berlins says England's
libel laws are particularly friendly to claimants, who don't have to prove that
the libel allegedly committed against them is false. Rather, the burden of
proof is on the defendant, who must prove that what was written was true. In
contrast, laws in the United States place the burden of proof on the claimant.
Claimants
also enjoy the benefits of the "no win, no fee" rule, by which they
are not required to pay their lawyer if they lose their case. Previously,
claimants had to finance their own costs for launching a libel action, and
government-funded legal aid was not available.
Claimants
from any country can launch a libel action in England against a book or
magazine as long as it is sold there and has the potential of damaging their
reputation. Even though the publisher might only be selling and distributing a
handful of copies in the country, it can be sued.
While
Craig Unger's "House of Bush, House of Saud" and Gerald Posner's
"While America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11" can be found in
American bookstores, they aren't being sold in the United Kingdom under Random
House's name. This is not because the accuracy of their books is being
questioned, but because Random House is unwilling to spend hundreds of
thousands of dollars to defend the books' authors in court, says Berlins.
Berlins
says England should reform its libel laws by placing the burden of proof on
claimants. "If you can claim you've been libeled, the law should make you
prove that what's been written about you is false." This change alone
would dramatically reduce the number of libel suits, says Berlins.
Read
Berlin's article here: http://www.indexonline.org/news/20040629_britain.shtml
Various
IFEX members have been working to reform libel laws in many countries around
the world, particularly criminal defamation and insult laws.
For
more information, see: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/236/
Visit
these links:
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Craig Unger Finds British Publisher: http://www.houseofbush.com/news.php
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Internet Resource on Defamation Laws: http://www.megalaw.com/top/defamation.php
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Libel Laws in the U.S.: http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/press/press08.htm
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ARTICLE 19 Briefing "Defining Defamation":
http://www.article19.org/docimages/714.htm
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OSCE Recommendations on Libel Laws:
http://www.osce.org/features/show_feature.php?id=22
Source : IFEX
www.ifex.org
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