Reforming English libel law: What is in Lord Lester's Bill?

The Coalition Government has pledged to review libel laws to protect freedom of speech. Given this pledge, we are watching with interest to see whether the government will support Lord Lester's Defamation Bill. The first reading of his private member's Bill took place in the House of Lords last Wednesday.

This eAlert looks at what Lord Lester has proposed and ponders what will happen next. The Bill covers a wide spectrum. It proposes some far reaching changes; in other areas, it seeks to codify existing case law.

Click here for comment and a quick view of the changes which include:

• Arguable extension of the Reynolds Qualified Privilege defence to cover statements of opinion;
• Extension of the defence of Fair Comment to allow defendants to rely on facts first learned of after publication;
• Introduction of a single publication rule;
• Companies to show substantial financial loss in order to succeed in a defamation claim;
• All claimants to show "substantial harm" to their reputation in order to succeed in defamation claim;
• Codified "safe harbour" provisions (although the scope of this provision is unclear); and
• Presumption in favour of judge-only trials as opposed to jury trials.

Lawyers Niri Shanmuganathan, Lorna Caddy