The Defamation Bill had its “Report stage” in the House of Lords on 5 February 2012. It is scheduled to be back before the House of Lords on 25 February 2012 for “Third Reading”. It should then go back to the House of Commons. Continue reading
Inforrm's Blog
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Page 488 of 651
Sir Alan Ward retires this week after 18 years in the Court of Appeal and nearly 24 years as a judge. His “valedictory” is at 9.30am on 14 February 2013. His wit and good humour have attracted a considerable “fan club”. Continue reading
The Metropolitan police have announced that Operation Weeting detectives have “identified a further suspected conspiracy to intercept telephone voicemails by a number of employees who worked for the now defunct News of the World newspaper“. Continue reading
Minter Ellison partner Peter Bartlett has been at the top of the media law game for decades, instructing an enviable list of media companies. He agreed to share his thoughts on many matters – including defamation, privacy, phone-hacking, media regulation, protection of sources, super-injunctions, suppression orders and the vexations of anti-discrimination legislation Continue reading
Journalisted is an independent, not-for-profit website built to make it easier for the public, to find out more about journalists and what they write about. It is run by the Media Standards Trust. It collects information automatically from the websites of British news outlets. Articles are indexed by journalist, based on the byline to the article. Keywords and statistics are automatically generated, and the site searches for any blogs or social bookmarking sites linking to each article. Continue reading
The Conservative members of the Government have today published a draft “Royal Charter” [pdf] to establish a “Recognition Panel” which would decided whether a voluntary press self-regulation body meets the requirements set out in Lord Justice Leveson’s Report. Continue reading
One of the things the LSE Media Policy Project aims to do in 2013 is provide much more information on future policy consultations, decisions and challenges. Here are some tasters that were discussed in a brainstorming workshop we held at the LSE with officials from Ofcom, the European Commission and academic experts. Continue reading
Hanging By A Thread: Reportage and Clause 4 of the Defamation Bill – Sophie Walker and Jason Bosland
Earlier this week, the latest iteration of the draft defamation bill was debated at the report stage of the House of Lords. One of the most controversial aspects of the bill is clause 4 – the Public Interest Defence. The original purpose of the clause was to codify, and therefore clarify and strengthen, the existing common law defence of Reynolds qualified privilege. A particular sticking point through the parliamentary debates is how to address the so-called ‘doctrine of reportage’. Continue reading
In a judgment handed down on 4 February 2013 ([2013] EWHC 145 (QB)) Mr Justice Eady awarded the former Conservative Party treasurer, Peter Cruddas, defamation damages of £45,000 in respect of 9 blogs and 12 tweets by published by lobbyist Mark Adams. Inforrm reported here. Continue reading
A YouGov poll commissioned by the Media Standards Trust [pdf] and conducted on 31 January to 1 February 2013, has shown strong public support behind implementation of Lord Justice Leveson’s recommendations for a new system of press regulation. Continue reading
Recent Judgments
© 2026 Inforrm's Blog
Theme by Anders Norén — Up ↑