OSCE media freedom representative welcomes plans for new UK defamation law, says it will prevent ‘libel tourism’

VIENNA, 9 May 2012 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, welcomed today a new defamation bill announced by the Queen in the UK Parliament, saying it would augment media freedom in the UK and in other OSCE participating States.

“It is important that the bill aims to address ‘libel tourism’,” said Mijatović. “This will put an end to ‘jurisdiction shopping’, whereby powerful and wealthy individuals from other countries attempt to stifle criticism at home using plaintiff-friendly British courts.”

The bill to be considered by parliament would also defend media in cases of “responsible publication on matters of public interest” and provide greater protection to websites hosting user-generated content.

The Representative has consistently supported the reform of defamation legislation in the United Kingdom, including the decriminalization of defamation in 2009, and advocated for civil libel reform. The Representative wrote to the Minister of State for Justice in May 2011 supporting this draft legislation. 

“I expect the bill to be tabled soon and hope that it will be further improved to address the remaining concerns expressed by civil society organizations, such as the need for a strong test of harm and for restricting the ability of corporations to use libel laws to limit criticism,” said Mijatović.