Have your say on government e-petitions

safeguard our right to criticise local councils

Submitted on Monday 14th January 2013

Published on Thursday 17th January 2013

Current status: Closed

Closed: Friday 17th January 2014

Signatures: 7

Tagged with

BBC ~ Council ~ Law

Petition Action

safeguard our right to criticise local councils

Additional Information

The Government should support a change in the law to protect "the Derbyshire Principle" - a long standing principle of English law that prevents local councils from suing for defamation.

The Derbyshire county council v Times Newspapers Ltd judgment of 1993 explicitly rules prevents local authorities from suing for libel with regards to the council's own corporate reputation. Lord Keith said in the judgment: “It is of the highest public importance that a democratically elected governmental body, or indeed any governmental body, should be open to uninhibited public criticism”.This protection is called "the Derbyshire Principle".

The BBC has reported that Rutland Council could be the first local authority to sue for defamation. Lawyers claim the council’s reputation had been damaged and suggested they could sue using the powers the Council now has under the Localism Act 2011.


You can't sign this petition because it is now closed. But you can still comment on it here at Repetition.me!

Have your say on this petition!

comments powered by Disqus

repetition.me is a Good Stuff website

23.20.220.59 Tue, 19 Mar 2024 05:24:55 +0000