Dead may be able to sue for libel
Speaking ill of the dead could become a lot more expensive. The [UK] government is to consider extending the laws of defamation so that even the deceased -- or at least their representatives -- can sue for libel.
Under current laws, litigants need to be alive for a court action to be pursued claiming someone has wrongly damaged their reputation. The government is now discussing proposals that could eventually mean reputations -- from newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell’s to Victorian prime minister Lord Gladstone’s -- could be defended beyond the grave.
The review was first announced in a Home Office paper on preventing criminals from profiting from their crimes. It highlighted concerns that murder victims could be slandered by their killers with no redress for their families.
The Department for Constitutional Affairs is expected to release a consultation paper later this year that will include the option of extending libel laws to the dead. It would primarily be intended to protect the reputations of homicide victims, but it is likely to prove impractical to restrict it to one specific group.
Read entire article at Times (of London)
Under current laws, litigants need to be alive for a court action to be pursued claiming someone has wrongly damaged their reputation. The government is now discussing proposals that could eventually mean reputations -- from newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell’s to Victorian prime minister Lord Gladstone’s -- could be defended beyond the grave.
The review was first announced in a Home Office paper on preventing criminals from profiting from their crimes. It highlighted concerns that murder victims could be slandered by their killers with no redress for their families.
The Department for Constitutional Affairs is expected to release a consultation paper later this year that will include the option of extending libel laws to the dead. It would primarily be intended to protect the reputations of homicide victims, but it is likely to prove impractical to restrict it to one specific group.