Since Lord Justice Leveson published his recommendations seven weeks ago, there has been a flurry of activity. Three draft bills have been published – by Labour, the Lib Dem peer Lord Lester, and Hacked Off – all of which aim to put the Report into practice. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport have also produced a piece of draft legislation, that Hacked Off has now published. This Government Bill was intended to demonstrate the ferocious complexity of a bill to enact Leveson. In fact, like the three other draft bills, it does the opposite: it shows that legislation to make a reality of media reform is neither complicated nor particularly prone to the risk of endless amendments. Meanwhile, the Conservative side of the Coalition have been working on the idea of a Royal Charter to give effect to the same reforms. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Tag: Hugh Tomlinson QC (Page 6 of 6)
The Leveson Report is a careful compromise designed to protect both freedom of expression and privacy. Lord Justice Leveson accepted the arguments of the press that a system of statutory regulation should not be imposed on them. He offered them the almost unique privilege of self-regulation – subject only to oversight of the regulator by Ofcom or a “recognition commissioner”. He suggested a number of incentives to encourage publishers to join the new regulatory body. One of the most important concerns exemplary damages. Continue reading
On 6 January 2013, Hacked Off, the campaign for a free and accountable press, published its Leveson Draft Bill [pdf], a short parliamentary bill to put into law Lord Justice Leveson’s recommendations on press regulation.
Produced in consultation with victims of press abuse and supporters of Hacked Off, the Leveson Bill has been drafted by Hugh Tomlinson QC, the chair of Hacked Off, and legislative expert and specialist Parliamentary Counsel Daniel Greenberg. Continue reading
As part of its tireless campaign against any form of effective press regulation, this week’s Mail on Sunday had “bombshell verdict” on the Leveson report. Leveson assessor and Liberty Director Shami Chakrabarti, had apparently told the Mail that “his law to gag press is illegal as it breaches Human Rights Act”. For good measure, the Liberty Director was reported as “blasting” Labour leader Ed Miliband’s ‘hasty and ill-considered’ endorsement of the report. This damning indictment of the Leveson Report was quickly picked up and repeated across the media. Continue reading
In a powerful piece on this blog, Charlie Beckett has argued strongly against what he calls “statutory newspaper regulation” and, with evident reluctance, has backed the “evil empire” of the British press. In this post I will argue that he is unrealistic and wrong. Continue reading
The internet may have been the elephant in Courtroom 73 during the Leveson Inquiry hearings, but it was the central theme of a series of presentations at JUSTICE’s ‘Life and the Law Online’ event on Tuesday 20 November, chaired by Rosemary Jay, senior attorney, Hunter & Williams. Continue reading
The libel case of Joseph v Spiller has been remarkable in a number of ways. It arose out of a publication on the defendants’ website for 6 weeks in April and May 2007 and, again on a limited basis in 2008. The claim was issued in May 2008 and, after a trip to the Supreme Court, was eventually tried by Mr Justice Tugendhat on 15 to 18 October 2012. Continue reading
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