News
Defamation is big business
- 09th December 2009
Defamation is big business in London, according to recent figures. The capital is now officially the libel capital of the world with the number of new defamation actions last year up 11% on the previous year – and the highest for five years.
But the costs of defending libel actions are prohibitively high - meaning that most cases settle out of court. However, the Index on Censorship, a free speech organisation, and Pen, a charity which supports persecuted writers, warn in a joint report that free speech is being stifled and they recommend a £10,000 cap on libel damages.
The two organisations are also calling for a shift of the burden of proof from the defendants to the claimants. This means that in a libel action, it is for the claimants to prove their case and not for the defendants to prove the truth of the alleged libel.
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