UK barrister Anthony Lester calls for legal test case to protect free speech
Barrister who led reform in Britain calls on lawyers to challenge ‘outdated’ and ‘ludicrous’ defamation law that stifles Hong Kong media
A barrister who led reform of the defamation law in Britain has called on Hong Kong lawyers to bring a test case so that courts can decide whether to change an "outdated" law that has a chilling effect on free speech.
Anthony Lester, a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, said the government was unlikely to take the initiative in Hong Kong's "sleepy" legislative reform system.
It was "ludicrous" that Hong Kong still had criminal defamation, he said. And libel of blasphemy, indecency and sedition was "wrong". Under the Defamation Ordinance, a person found guilty of publishing a libel known to be false can be fined and jailed for up to two years.
The bill to reform Britain's defamation law was passed to protect free speech and to provide more protection for individuals and organisations, including newspapers and broadcasters, that criticise big companies.
"You still have criminal defamation as an offence even though the human rights committee of the United Nations laid down guidelines against this in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights upon which your Basic Law is partly founded," he said, referring to freedom of expression. "Even though they have said get rid of blasphemy, you haven't done so. Even though they have said cut down on broad sedition case law you haven't done so."
Lester, whose private bill led to the new Defamation Act in Britain, said Hong Kong's law should be reformed to strike a balance between protecting reputations and providing proper breathing space for free speech.
"I hope Hong Kong lawyers will bring test litigation challenging [the defamation law] against Article 27 of the Basic Law so the judges will be the catalyst of reform," he said.