Robert Sharp

Pupil Barrister

Category: Elsewhere (Page 13 of 28)

Articles that were published somewhere else first.

Urging #LibelReform in Scottish Legal News

26 November 2015 / / 0 Comments

Earlier this week I spoke to journalist Kapil Summan on behalf of English PEN and the Libel Reform Campaign, on the issue of reforming the UK defamation laws.
The Defamation Act 2013, you will recall, reformed the law in England & Wales.  But MSPs at Holyrood and MLAs at Stormont have yet to legislate for their jurisdictions.
I extemporised on why reform in required in both places! Kapil wrote up two versions of the interview, for Scottish Legal News and Irish Legal News. 
Key message:

The fact the Defamation Act seems to be working as Parliament intended is precisely what we were after so we’re going into this … with confidence that the Defamation Act is a very strong blueprint for reform in other jurisdictions.

Let's ban corporations from using law to silence their critics

25 November 2015 / / 0 Comments

English PEN is working with Scottish PEN on a campaign to reform the law of defamation in Scotland.  I wrote an opinion piece for the Herald’s ‘Agenda’ slot, which was published in the paper yesterday.  There was also a news report about it, giving more information about corporations that sue.

The law of defamation in Scotland is woefully out of date.
It has not been reviewed since 1996, before the Scottish Parliament was re-established.
During this time, the internet has evolved from a hobbyist’s plaything into the centre of public discourse, and yet defamation law has failed to adapt to digital communication. Continue reading

Discussing #KillAllWhiteMen in the Guardian and the Evening Standard

6 November 2015 / / 3 Comments

Bahar Mustafa is the Goldsmiths College Students Union Officer who allegedly tweeted #KillAllWhiteMen.  She was charged with ‘sending a communication conveying a threatening message’. However, it emerged on Tuesday that the charges against her have been dropped.  The Guardian‘s news reporter Jessica Elgot broke the story and asked me to comment on behalf of English PEN:

“The tweets were never a credible threat and while Ms Mustafa might have offended some people, that alone should never be enough for prosecution,” he said.
“It’s a shame this investigation took so long to conclude, but the police are working with laws that are no longer fit for purpose. These charges were brought under communications legislation that was written for fax machines, not social media. The law needs an urgent update.”

Continue reading

Debating Saudi 'Red Lines' on the BBC

11 October 2015 / / 3 Comments

On Wednesday I was invited onto the BBC World Service programme ‘BBC World Have Your Say’ to discuss Raif Badawi’s PEN Pinter Prize and the issues experienced by bloggers in Saudi Arabia. Also on the show were Evelyne Abitbol, Chief Execuitve of the Free Raif Badawi Foundation and Saudi Arabian journalists Essam Al Ghalib, Eman Al Nafjan of Saudi Woman, and Abeer Mishkas.
You can hear our segment via the player below or on SoundCloud.  The entire programme can be heard on the BBC website or BBC iPlayer. Continue reading

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