QMUL / City debate: ‘This house believes that the English libel laws are unfit for purpose in the 21st Century’

By Judith Townend

Legal speakers at a libel reform debate at Queen Mary, University of London, were presented with this motion on Wednesday night: “This house believes that the English libel laws are unfit for purpose in the 21st Century.” Despite the groundswell of support for the Libel Reform campaign – the impetus for the government’s and Lord Lester’s respective defamation bills – the four respondents all wished to speak against the motion.

As Professor Lorna Woods, City Law School, said in her introduction, the case for libel reform has been “very strongly and vociferously put” by the press; now was a chance to hear another side of the story.

Following a speedy history of English libel law from Gavin Sutter, lecturer in media law at Queen Mary, Jonathan Coad, partner at Lewis Silkin, Mark Lewis, solicitor advocate at Taylor Hampton; Professor Alastair Mullis, University of East Anglia; Hugh Tomlinson QC, Matrix Chambers, took turns to address what they perceived as the main issues.

• Read the full report on Inforrm.

The event, the first of a series of media law seminars, was hosted by the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary, University of London, and the City Law School at City University London.