Reframing Libel - Taking All Rights Seriously and where it leads us

Mullis, Alastair (2010) Reframing Libel - Taking All Rights Seriously and where it leads us. LSE Legal Studies Working Papers.

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Abstract

In preparing this paper, we have returned to first principles and re-evaluated fundamental aspects of libel law, its purposes, its substance, and its processes. Our thinking has been informed by, first, philosophical understandings of democracy and the public sphere and in particular the role of freedom of speech and of the media therein, and secondly, the social psychology of reputation and privacy. By doing this, we are able to ground some of the proposals for reform made previously by Index on Censorship, English PEN, Lord Lester, and others. We do so, however, not through the prism of an over-weaned emphasis on freedom of expression, but rather by triangulating the rights and interests of claimants, defendants, and the wider public. Ultimately, we recommend a coherent set of significant substantive and procedural reforms that if enacted would enhance access to justice and reduce costs for all but the most serious and/or most damaging libels. This involves the recommendation of the introduction of a two-track libel regime

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 16 - peace, justice and strong institutions ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/peace_justice_and_strong_institutions
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law
Depositing User:	Alastair Mullis
Date Deposited:	07 Apr 2011 08:05
Last Modified:	20 Dec 2022 14:31
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/28317
DOI:

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