UK Media Law - the future?

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the UK Parliament issued its Report on Press standards, privacy and libel on 24 February 2010. The Report is the culmination of a two-year investigation into press practices, privacy and libel law and the Report contains several recommendations which will be welcomed by the media. In particular, the Committee considered the chilling effect that costs can have on media defendants, libel tourism and the rise of so-called 'super injunctions'. Whilst a change in Government may be imminent, the momentum for reform is increasing and it seems unlikely that the next Government will seek to backtrack from these proposals.

Since the Report was published, the Government has taken steps to reduce maximum success fees under conditional fee agreements from 100% to 10% in defamation cases. This will take effect from April 2010 and is aimed at 'rebalancing the system' so that it is affordable for the media to defend costly defamation claims.

Click on the link below for further information about the proposals and our comments on how they will affect the media.

Lawyers Niri Shanmuganathan, Justine Wilkie