THE Government is preparing proposals for reforming the UK’s “unbalanced” libel laws, Jack Straw has said.
The Justice Secretary said the current system was attracting “libel tourists” and restricting “fair comment”.
His comments came amid growing concern that the rise of “no win no fee” cases in British courts is threatening freedom of speech.
In some cases, newspapers who lose libel actions are being left with bills for their opponent’s legal costs that are many times higher than the damages awarded. Mr Straw told a Sunday newspaper that radical change was needed: “What concerns me is that the current arrangements are being used by big corporations to restrict fair comment, not always by journalists but also by academics.”
