Strasbourg, 05.07.2012 – The Council of Europe today alerted its 47 member states to the serious threat to freedom of expression and information created by “libel tourism”, a practice of filing complaints in jurisdictions where it is easy to sue and with courts thought to be the most likely to deliver favourable judgments.

In a Declaration just adopted, the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers points out that the prevention of libel tourism should be part of the reform of defamation laws in member states. It also calls for the creation of clear rules on applicable laws and jurisdiction in order to enhance legal predictability and certainty, in line with European Court of Human Rights´s case law, and concerning the proportionality of damages in libel cases. (more...)

Declaration