Scotland's biggest writers urge Sturgeon not to shelve defamation reform

The writers are part of a campaign run by Scottish PEN, the freedom of expression group, in parallel with the The Herald's own Freedom of Speech campaign.

They remain concerned that unreformed laws are having a chilling effect on investigative journalists, scientists and - especially - local bloggers trying to expose wrongdoing by the rich and powerful. England and Wales have moved to bring their defamation laws i n to line with the internet age. Scotland has not followed suit.

The writers, who also include Sara Sheridan, Zoe Strachan, Philippe Sands, Karen Campbell, Christopher Brookmyre, Ron Butlin and Louise Welsh, said that “protecting free expression cannot wait any longer".

They added: "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.”

The Scottish Law Commission produced a draft bill in December 2017, which included an English-style "serious harm" threshold to prevent trivial cases or those brought solely to silence criticism. The Law Commission also proposed created 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.

Nik Williams, Project Manager of Scottish PEN said: “It would be a missed opportunity for the First Minister to ignore the work and opinions of the Scottish Law Commission and the hundreds of people who took part in the public consultations to delay reform until September 2019.

"Scotland’s defamation laws are already significantly out-of-date and wholly inadequate for free expression in the modern age and any delay in reforming defamation law will continue to stifle public discourse and the ability of people to hold the powerful to account.”

Poet and novelist, James Robertson added : “The law of defamation in Scotland has not been revised in any significant way since before the Scottish Parliament was established, while in the same period the context of news media, public expression and communication has changed beyond all recognition.

"We need the law to recognise this new world, protecting both freedom of expression and reasonable rights of privacy, both key areas of a fully-functioning democracy.”

Actual defamation cases in the Scottish courts are rare. However, evidence from the National Union of Journalists and newspaper employers suggest threats of expensive legal action - or fears of threats - are blocking investigations.

Ms Sturgeon in April told a Scottish parliament committee that some of the English-style reforms, including a serious harm test, were "controversial", suggesting a potential delay. She said: "This is a sensitive area, an area where for very understandable reasons there are strong views and strong feelings." She added: "There are some quite thorny issues it is important to get right." The Scottish Government has since announced its own consultation.