Ministry of Justice consultation on libel laws

The Ministry of Justice has begun a two-month online consultation on the libel laws, according to paidcontent:UK.

Defamation laws orginate (at least partly) from the 1840's, and the changes that the internet has brought means that the law as it stands, claimants must sue within 12 months of an article’s publication, no longer holds.

As publishers are potentially liable for any defamatory material published by them and accessed via their online archive, however long after the initial publication, according to the consultation, publishers could sue at any time if the article continues to be published online.

paidcontent reports that there are three options:

"...a single publication rule within the existing 12-month period; a single publication rule but with a time limit extended to three or even 10 years, or a system where the 12-month limit stays if publishers agree to update archived stories with a clarifying note or even remove them at the request of claimants."

The Ministry of Justice also notes:

"The internet now allows content to be updated, cached, linked, archived and, some might argue, republished every time a web page is requested. So should each publication of defamatory material still justify a separate claim ('multiple publication' rule) or should only one claim be allowed ('single publication' rule) – and how might that work?"

Consultation papers (PDF).

Via Martin Stabe.