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Libel tourism on the rise

August 21, 2008

It’s a strange notion, libel tourism. Who on earth would want to travel the world in search not of an idyllic beach but rather the best place in which to sue for libel? Surely there are better things to do?

Not according to the Independent today. The author, Robert Verkaik, writes of the phalanx of US celebrities poised to invade our humble courts in search of the restoration of their reputations. “Film stars and pop idols claiming their reputations have been tarnished by the US tabloids have decided that London is the place to sue their antagonists,” he writes. Verkaik goes on to cite comments made by Irish lawyer Paul Tweed at a rather ghastly sounding “audience of Hollywood lawyers in Beverley Hills”. Tweed bullishly stated that “One of the most effective strategies we have developed during the course of the past two or three years in terms of obtaining a speedy and satisfactory resolution for US plaintiffs has been the threat or implementation of multi-jurisdictional proceedings.”

In other words, sue in the UK to make use of its claimant-friendly libel laws, at the same time as sidestepping the American ‘public figure’ defence which requires a claimant to prove ‘actual malice’.

Tweed’s comments chime uneasily with the United Nations’ verdict on libel tourism. Last week, the UN’s committee on human rights condemned the practice for its backdoor suppression of free speech, and, into the bargain, concluded that UK defamation laws “served to discourage critical media reporting on matters of serious public interest, adversely affecting the ability of scholars and journalists to publish their work.”

Tweed, though, counters by saying that he is helping US stars deal with “false and outrageous allegations” made by the tabloids, something they can do next to nothing about under their own domestic law. Indeed, as Verkaik reports him telling his Beverley Hills audience: “With the ever-increasing expansion of internet publication and with US magazines such as the National Enquirer now distributing UK/Irish editions, I am being consulted more and more by internationally famous stars who would otherwise have difficulty in seeking vindication of their reputations in the US, where the libel laws are geared much more in favour of the press.”

It is not clear whether Tweed represents his clients on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis, but here at Swordplay we can only hope that he does. The discerning libel tourist would expect nothing less.