Leading libel lawyers, academics and reform campaigners will gather at City University London on Thursday 4th November 2010 for a symposium chaired by Lord Anthony Lester, to discuss the issues around libel reform in England & Wales.
The event, organised by Connie St Louis of the Department of Journalism, on behalf of the Centre for Law, Justice and Journalism (CLJJ) at City University London, will discuss various ways in which Libel Law can be ‘reframed’ following the introduction of Lord Anthony Lester’s Defamation Bill in the House of Lords, and ahead of the government’s white paper, due in January 2011.
Contributors will address issues such as cost, length of time to go to trial as well as how to improve the experience of the person being sued. The effect of the law on scientific and medical research will also be debated, as well as the challenges facing bloggers.
The papers presented by the contributors on the day will become the first in a series of working papers for the CLJJ and will be entitled ‘Reframing Libel’. They will be published soon after the event, in time to influence the government’s own paper.
Speakers include:
- Magnus Boyd, partner, Carter-Ruck
- Tracey Brown, managing director, Sense About Science
- Dominic Crossley, partner, Collyer Bristow
- Robert Dougans, associate, Bryan Cave
- David Allen Green, Of counsel, Preiskel & Co.
- Professor Roy Greenslade, City University London
- Razi Mireskandari, partner, Simons Muirhead & Burton
- Professor Alastair Mullis, University of East Anglia
- Dr Andrew Scott, London School of Economics
- Hugh Tomlinson QC, barrister, Matrix Chambers
- Dr Peter Wilmshurst, cardiologist and libel defendant
A provisional programme for the day, which runs from 9.30am to 4.30pm, can be viewed at this link. Tickets can be booked at this link. The BBC College of Journalism will be filming the event and you can follow updates via @reframinglibel on Twitter, and via the tags ‘#libelreform’ and ‘#citylibel’. More information at http://reframinglibel.com.
reserve places at this link: http://www.city.ac.uk/whatson/2010/11-nov/041110_libel.html