One encouraging sign from the new administration in Jamaica is the promise by Prime Minister Bruce Golding to reform existing defamation legislation.
Hopefully, the Caribbean journalistic community will monitor very closely the undertaking expressed during Golding's inaugural speech to: "review the libel and slander law to ensure that it cannot be used as a firewall to protect wrongdoers."
This brings some context to current difficulties being experienced by journalists in Grenada and Dominica who are now (if they were not before) acutely aware of the "firewall" impact of such legislation.
In the process of removing this impact of civil defamation, I hope in the future all governments move on to completely eliminate criminal libel.
Friday, 14 September 2007
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