Rise of the superinjunction: libel, privacy and press freedom under fire in the UK [updated]

On Tuesday 13 April 2010, the Frontline Club organised an event under the title “Rise of the super injunction: libel, privacy and press freedom under fire in the UK” (with no question mark).  The discussion was chaired by the BBC’s Clive Coleman, and on the panel were (in alphabetical order) David Hooper (Partner in Reynolds Porter Chamberlain), David Leigh (Guardian Investigations Editor), Simon Singh (Science Writer) and Nigel Tait (Partner in Carter-Ruck).  The event was recorded on video and can be seen in full here.

The video is, unfortunately, no longer available on the Frontline website.  The discusion was lively and interesting – although with perhaps slightly more heat than light.  It strongly confirmed INFORRM’s view that what is needed is some basic research: how many super-injunctions are there? how many “libel tourists”?  how do other jurisdictions keep down the costs of litigation?

One interesting area of consensus concerned the question of a quick easy route to resolving libel action: a “libel tribunal”.  This seems to command wide assent across the panel and the audience.  We will be covering this in some more detail in a later post.

Update: There is an interesting discussion of some of the issues raised at this event in a post on Steven Price’s “Media Law Journal” blog, entitled “Talkin’ about a revolution”