“Libel tourism”

“Britain’s libel laws have given rise to the phenomenon of wealthy “libel tourists,” who sue on the slimmest British connection [e.g., the fact that a book may be available through Amazon.co.uk] in order to ensure a favorable ruling. Mr. bin Mahfouz had the good fortune of having his case of libel against a author and publisher heard by Judge David Eady, who has a long history of strange rulings in libel cases — rulings that generally ran in favor of censorship and against free speech. In connection with another of these rulings in May 2007, British journalist Stephen Glover wrote: ‘Mr Justice Eady is beginning to worry me. Is he a friend of a free Press? There are good reasons to believe that he isn’t.’ ” Read rest of article. (You might want to take a look at this article too.)