US Law to Counter 'Libel Tourism' in British Courts
THE TELEGRAPH: The US has passed a bill to protect American writers and authors from "libel tourism" in British courts by decreeing that foreign libel judgments are not enforceable in the United States.

The move came after years of bewilderment with what are regarded as draconian UK libel laws that saw a string of cases being heard which would never have been brought in the US.

Many involved celebrities or foreigners suing American publications and books whose content was viewed by a relatively small number of people in Britain.

Supporters of the Securing the Protection of our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage (Speech) Act said "libel tourism", in which plaintiffs shopped around for countries with tough libel laws, undermined the cherished first amendment of the US constitution that guarantees free speech rights.

The legislation will prevent US federal courts from recognising or enforcing a foreign judgment for defamation that is inconsistent with the first amendment and will bar foreign parties from targeting the American assets of an American author, journalist, or publisher as part of any damages.

Campaigners for more liberal libel law in Britain said they hoped the new law would influence the Government as it prepares a draft reform bill for publication in January.

Padraig Reidy, a spokesman for the Index on Censorship, said: "It's a vindication of our argument that English libel laws in their current state do not encourage or protect free expression. The fact that Britain's best ally feels the need to protect itself from the English libel courts demonstrates the need for reform." >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Wednesday, July 28, 2010

A Free Speech Crusade We Should All Be Proud to Join
EVENING STANDARD: Saudi bankers and Russian oligarchs love London, and not only for its chichi boutiques. English judges provide them with a unique and de-luxe service: the right to silence detractors from all corners of the globe.

Their behaviour is causing an international scandal but you would never guess it from the wretched response to the Daily Mail editor-in-chief's criticisms of Mr Justice Eady. The supposedly liberal-minded Lord Falconer, the former Labour Lord Chancellor, and Lord Lester, who once championed human rights, have burbled their defences of Eady, apparently unaware that all over the world honest people fear him.

I've been on the fringes of campaigns for freedom of expression for years, and could provide dozens of examples. But let us begin with the case that has made English law a laughing stock.

One of Barack Obama's first acts as president will be to sign into law the Libel Tourism Bill, which is sailing through the US Congress. America is an ally whose law has its roots in England but because of Eady it will not recognise the judgments of English courts.

Eady allowed the billionaire Saudi banker Khalid bin Mahfouz to sue Rachel Ehrenfeld, an American author. Ms Ehrenfeld had not published or promoted her book on the funding of terrorism in England. The sheikh had paid hundreds of millions of dollars in fines after the collapse of the corrupt Bank of Credit and Commerce International.

Eady shrugged and ordered that all copies of Ehrenfeld's book should nevertheless be pulped. >>> Nick Cohen | November 12, 2008

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