We have made so much progress towards much-needed reform of defamation laws in Scotland. As the current law has not been substantially reformed in 22 years, it is wholly inadequate faced with the revolution brought by the Internet to how we communicate, source information, express ourselves and hold the powerful to account.
Reform is long overdue, but we are closer than we have been in many years. However, reports suggest defamation reform will not be included in Nicola Sturgeon’s next Programme for Government, leaving September 2019 representing the next opportunity for this much-needed reform to be introduced. If reform is delayed for a year, we will have a year of inadequate laws that fail to protect free expression and continue to prioritise the interests of the pursuers.
Thanks to the support of Scottish and international writers and activists we have secured 139 signatures to our letter sent to the First Minister calling on her to include defamation reform in the upcoming Programme for Government. This includes Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Julian Barnes, James Robertson, Philippe Sands, Matthew Caruana Galizia and A.L. Kennedy.
Scottish PEN would like to thank everyone who has signed this letter helping us make the case for defamation to be prioritised.
Here is the letter with the full list of signatories.
— LETTER STARTS —
Dear First Minister,
Please commit to including defamation reform in the upcoming Programme for Government to ensure that free expression is protected in Scotland.
The laws governing defamation in Scotland are out-of-date. They are inadequate when faced with how people across Scotland communicate, source information and reach out to other people. To ensure free expression is protected, defamation must be reformed as soon as possible. Recent movements towards reform, including the evidence session at the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee, are to be welcomed. There is a clear and growing consensus around the need for reform, but we cannot be complacent.
Following the publication of the Scottish Law Commission’s final report and draft Bill we are in a strong position to reform the law, bringing forward changes to establish a serious harm threshold to dissuade trivial cases or those brought solely to silence criticism; a statutory defence of publication on a matter of public interest and a single publication rule to ensure the time period within which a defamation action can be brought does not restart every time a link or post is shared or viewed online. Every one of these reforms strengthens free expression and ensures that public debate is not controlled or stifled by powerful vested interests.
It is critical that law reform is orderly, democratic and evidence-based. We welcome the public consultation on defamation reform as an essential way to involve the whole community in the discussion about how defamation could and should be reformed. However, the public consultation need not delay a principled commitment from the Scottish Government to begin the legislative process to reform defamation law during the next parliamentary term. To this end, we call on you to commit to including defamation reform in your Programme for Government for 2018/19.
Protecting free expression cannot wait any longer. Every moment reform is delayed, writers, academics, scientists, journalists and social media users remain at risk from being threatened by legal action on the most minor of issues.
By incorporating defamation reform into the 2018 Programme for Government you will send a powerful signal to people across Scotland that free expression is both valued and protected and that Scotland prioritises laws that accurately represents the country as it is, not the country it used to be.
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact Scottish PEN’s project manager, Nik Williams.
Yours sincerely,
Jim Aitken
Colin Alexander
Frank Mackay Anim-Appiah
Jane Archer (Scottish PEN Writers At Risk Committee Chair)
Dr Peter Ashby
Nguyên Hoàng Bao Viêt
Julian Barnes
Meg Bateman
Gillian Beattie-Smith
Nan Black
Russell Borland
Aileen Brady
Nicole Brandon
Paul Broda
Chris Brookmyre
Ron Butlin
Jenni Calder (Scottish PEN Membership Secretary)
James Campbell
Karen Campbell
Andrew Campbell (Scottish PEN Trustee)
Donald Campbell
Joyce Caplan (Scottish PEN Trustee)
Gerard Carruthers (Scottish PEN Trustee)
Matthew Caruana Galizia
Anne Clarke
Jennifer Clement (PEN International President)
Penelope Cole
Anne Connolly
Yvonne Coppard
Joan Craig
Ian Crockatt
Anna Crowe
Fiona Davidson
Robert Dawson Scott
Brendan De Caires
Fiona De Salle
Meaghan Delahunt
Antonio Della Rocca (PEN Trieste President)
Colin Donati (Scottish PEN Trustee)
Gillian Duff
Lloyd Duong
Linsey Fairlie
Una Leonie Flett
Roddy Forsyth
Maureen Freely (English PEN Chair of Trustees)
Iain Galbraith
Heidi Goehrke
Fiona Graham (Scottish PEN Trustee)
Alison Gray
Stephanie Green
Guy Gunaratne
Diana Hendry
Mark Hillen
Martin Hillman
Elizabeth Holley
Lilly Hunter
Brian Johnstone
Jean Johnstone
A.L. Kennedy
Peter Kinnear
Stephanie Knight
Kevin Lelland
Douglas Lipton
Robin Lloyd-Jones
Neil Mac Neil
John MacDonald
Mary MacDonald
Rhona MacLeod
Aonghas MacNeacail
Anne Marie Madden
Iain Maloney
David Manderson (Scottish PEN Trustee)
Robyn Marsack
Felicity Martin
John Matthews
Mary McCabe
Linda McCorrison
Val McDermid
James McEnaney
Rosalind McInnes
Patricia Ann Melsom
Ricky Monahan Brown (Scottish PEN Trustee)
Fiona Montgomery
Anne B. Murray
Hege Newth Nouri (Norsk PEN General Secretary)
Liz Niven (Scottish PEN Writers In Exile Chair)
Bernard Odendaal
Margie Orford (PEN International Board Member & PEN South Africa Board Member)
Robert Philip
John Pilkington
Erik Vlaminck (Belgium/Flanders PEN President)
Paulo Quadros
Jean Rafferty
Adam Ramsay
Dorothy Rankin
Ian Rankin
Cathy Ratcliff
Elizabeth Reeder (Scottish PEN Women Writer’s Committee Chair)
Darren Reid
Dr. Mario Relich (Scottish PEN Secretary)
Jonathan Rimmer
Fiona Rintoul
Richard Roberts
James Robertson
Colin Campbell Robinson
Eamonn Rodgers
German Rojas
Trevor Royle
Philippe Sands (English PEN President)
John Ralston Saul
Andrew Murray Scott
David Scott
David Graham Scott
Rebecca Sharp
Sara Sheridan
Jane Simmons
Elaine Singer
Dennis Smith
Burhan Sönmez (PEN International Co-opted Board Member)
Martin Stepek
Leslie Stevenson
Marga Stoffer
Zoe Strachan
Ian Taylor
Marsali Taylor
Lindsay Thomson
Andrew Tickell (Scottish PEN Trustee)
Alexander Tiffin
John Toner
Sheila Tulloch
Brian Underwood
Fiona Valpy
Louise Welsh
Catrina Wessels
Andy Wightman MSP
Douglas Stuart Wilson
Susan Windram
Han Zaw
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