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言論の自由の価格

木曜日、2008年9月18日

によって ジョージMonbiot | 従って私達は彼に会った。 先週、薬および言論の自由両方のための勝利で、Matthias Rathは保護者に対して彼の名誉毀損スーツを落とした。 しかしそれはこの国の裁判所が彼がこの場合を追求することを可能にしたことすばらしいようである。 ドイツの医者、Rathはに苦しんでいる南アフリカ人を励ますようである HIV 反retroviral薬剤を使用することを止め、彼のビタミンの丸薬を代りに取るため。 彼等は死んだ。 ジャーナリストは使用結局であることを示すのは重要な物語である。 それを出版するimpudenceを持っていることのための数十万ポンドを失うためにしかし保護者は立った。

この新聞は十分に大きくそれ自身を守るには月曜日にそれはTescoの法的論争を解決ことはまたできた。 しかし使用される小さい揚げ物をつかまえるためにRathが今投げられている網。 ここ数日に、シェフィールド水曜日のフットボールクラブはファン(1,2)のいくつかに対する言い分を落とした。 私が今私見たあることが法的いじめる最も悪い例について書くことは許される。

クラブに深刻な問題、不規則にピッチがあり、ファンの多数はインターネットのフォーラム- owlstalk.co.uk -をそれらを論議するのに使用する。 それらはコメントの種類を作るあなたがあらゆる話板で見つけると期待する15分以内に普通忘れられ。 2つおよび半分年は前にクラブ最初スーツを進水させた。 今英国の法律の迷路の不快感からこれらのコメントを現れた掲示した人々だけを持って点滅する。

Geoffrey RobertsonおよびアンドリューNicolが優秀な本媒体の法律で説明すると同時に、イギリスの名誉毀損の法律は1275年に作成される法令に遡る。 scandalumのmagnatumの刑事犯罪はそれらに対して人々をかき混ぜることができる物語から「王国のすばらしい人」を保護するために案出された。 後で3世紀、星室庁は貴族が名誉毀損のための決闘に代わりをそれらに与えるために民事訴訟を進水させることを可能にした(3)。

それらは定められたFoxの1792の名誉毀損の行為までのこの特権の請求者(場合を持って来ている人)が彼に対して使用された単語が偽、悪意のあるおよび有害だったと証明しなければならなかったことを多産の使用をした。 これはそれが今日であるより名誉毀損の法律が216年前により寛大だった多くことを意味し、言論の自由の原則と調和して。 During the 19th and 20th centuries, Robertson and Nicol show, “the common law was re-fashioned to serve the British class system from the perspective of … the Victorian club.” To protect wealthy people from criticism, the courts reversed Fox’s burden of proof. They created a presumption that any derogatory remark made about a gentleman must be false. This remains the case today. Defamation differs from all other civil or criminal laws in Britain: the burden of proof is on the defendant.

The law remains the privilege of gentlemen, by which I mean people who are able to afford costs that often exceed a million pounds on each side. Cases tend to be resolved by sheer financial might, as the plaintiffs bankrupt the defendants, or force them to give in before their money runs out. This ensures that the law retains its 13th Century function. It guarantees that most attempts to hold the wealthy to account founder before they are launched, as people bite their tongues for fear of losing their homes.

Since 1879, corporations have also been able to sue for libel(4). The inequality of arms this causes is compounded by the fact that there is no legal aid for defamation cases. Lawyers are now allowed to fight these suits on a no-win, no-fee basis, but this freedom is double-edged: if a defendant loses, he could end up paying double the claimant’s legal costs.

This is the context in which Sheffield Wednesday went to court to demand the names and email addresses of 14 people who had posted comments on owlstalk. Here are some of the comments over which the club sued. “What an embarrassing, pathetic, laughing stock of a football club we’ve become”. “Another day, another blunder. I doubt even Leeds were in such a mess this time last summer, and look what happened to them”. “I am waiting with baited breath to hear who the Chuckle Brothers have signed after their trip to watch players abroad. With the amount of money they have to spend and the wages they can offer the best we can hope for is that little known Transvestitavian International I.Sukblodov, who last scored in a brothel.”(5)

Such comments were deemed by the Sheffield Wednesday’s lawyers to be “false and seriously defamatory messages”(6) which had caused grievous injury to the delicate flowers who ran the club. (They should try posting an article on the Guardian’s Comment is Free site). The lawyers threatened “proceedings to include claims for injunctions, damages, interest and legal costs (which could be substantial).”(7) The judge threw most of the application out, but instructed the forum’s host to reveal the email addresses of four of the posters, whose remarks seem to me to be almost as trivial as those he dismissed(8). This took place a year ago, and the long shadow of the law hung over the posters until the club’s lawyers dropped the case last week.

Another case dates back to February 2006, when the club sent a warning letter to a fan called Nigel Short. When he received the letter he offered to apologise and to change his comments, but the club rejected this. He was able to fight it only because he found a lawyer – Mark Lewis of George Davies Solicitors in Manchester – who was incensed by this case and was prepared to represent him. “I’ve had two and a half years of worrying I was going to lose my house”, Short tells me. “It’s been hell. If Mark hadn’t done this no win, no fee, I would have been bankrupt by now.”(9)

In November 2007, Short was diagnosed with throat cancer. The case continued. But on Wednesday 3rd September he announced that his treatment had been successful(10). On Friday 5th, the club dropped the case and agreed to pay his costs. It issued a press release which suggested it had done so because of “Mr Short’s medical condition.”(11) I asked the club whether it had abandoned the case because it knew that Nigel would now live to fight the action. It has refused to answer my questions.(12)

The point of this story is not that the directors of Sheffield Wednesday have behaved like a bunch of petulant bullies. It’s that the law equips them to do so. Most people see this as an issue only for journalists. But the internet ensures that the law of defamation now threatens anyone who stands up for what he believes to be right. This autumn the English branch of PEN, which defends the freedom to write, will launch a campaign against our libel law. But where are the rest of you? Where are the petitions, the public protests, the lobbies of parliament? Why is this 13th-Century law still permitted to stifle legitimate dissent? Wake up Britain: your freedoms are disappearing into the pockets of barristers and billionaires.

www.monbiot.com

References:

1. K&L Gates, 9th September 2008. SWFC and others v Neil Hargreaves. Notice of discontinuance.

2. Irwin Mitchell, 5th September 2008. SWFC and Kaven Walker v Nigel Short. Notice of discontinuance.

3. Geoffrey Robertson QC and Andrew Nicol QC, 2008. Media Law, 5th Edition. Penguin, London.

4. Geoffrey Robertson, pers comm.

5. K&L Gates, 10th August 2007. Schedule attached to letter sent to George Davies Solicitors.

6. SWFC and Others, 14th September 2007. Claim Form v Neil Hargreaves. No.HQ07X03169.

7. K&L Gates, 10th August 2007. Letter to George Davies Solicitors.

8. Richard Parkes QC, Sitting as a Deputy Judge of the Queen’s Bench Division, 2nd October 2007. Approved Judgment, Case No: HQ07X03169.

9. Nigel Short, pers comm.

10. http://nigelshort.blog.co.uk/2008/06/24/2008/07/27/they-say-a-picture-pa…

11. SWFC Ltd, 5th September 2008. Statement. This appears to have been removed from SWFC’s site, but I have retained a copy. Please write to me if you want to see it.

12. Colin Wood, SWFC, 15th September 2008. By email.


Have Your Say: The price of free speech
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One Response to “The price of free speech”

  1. georgier
    Posted: Sep 19th, 2008 at 12:14 am

    I agree with Julie Birchall re Monbiot. But, what an excellent article by GM.

    Reply | Quote selected text | Link to this

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