Draft Defamation Bill - A Journalist’s Dream?

Following Lord Lester's hotly debated draft Defamation Bill last summer, the Government has published its draft Defamation Bill and launched a public consultation on the Bill which closes on 10 June 2011.

The draft Bill is intended to make it more difficult to sue. It also codifies and attempts to simplify complex aspects of the common law of defamation developed by case law over many years. If enacted this will not necessarily reduce the uncertainty as the courts are unlikely to resist arguments that the same common law should be considered when interpreting the statute.

The Bill largely follows Lord Lester's draft and includes his proposals to make it much harder for companies to sue. This is very worrying for all companies. Not that they want to or regularly sue. Far from it. The evil is that it removes the ability to exercise the small degree of influence that currently exists through the threat of suing.