Review of Defamation Law

The Chairman of the Scottish Law Commission, Lord Pentland, today welcomed the interest and support for the Commission’s current project on reform of defamation law expressed by 115 signatories to a letter published in the Herald newspaper.

Lord Pentland said:

‘We are well-advanced with our work in the important and sensitive area of defamation law reform and are on course to publish a detailed discussion paper in the early part of next year. This will provide a framework for what we are confident will be a lively and open public debate about freedom of speech and related issues in modern Scotland and the role of the law in safeguarding these rights. There has been important recent reform in England and Wales with the Defamation Act 2013 and there is a need to consider in detail the extent to which that serves as a suitable model for reform of Scots law. In the light of the consultation exercise, the Scottish Law Commission will make recommendations to the Scottish Government on the need for and content of legislation.’

See the news release and project page for more information.