Friday 23 October 2009

Global Media Law and Policy Newsletter

This weekly newsletter is an excellent source of current news about media law and freedom of expression litigation.

Wednesday 14 October 2009

Tribunal appeal: Wilders wins right to enter UK to show film

Unsurprisingly the politically-motivated decision by the now-former Home Secretary to ban a controversial Dutch politician from the UK has been overturned on appeal.
"Substantial evidence of actual harm would be needed before it would be proper for a government to prevent the expression and discussion of matters that might form the opinions of legislators, policy makers and voters,"Judge CMG Ockelton, who chaired the tribunal, said. The ruling said there had been no evidence of public order problems or damage to community relations as a result of a previous visit by Wilders to Britain.

"It was more important to allow free speech than to take restrictive action speculatively," said Ockelton. The judgment goes further, saying that even if there were evidence that Wilders posed a threat to public order it would still not have been necessary to ban him because the police would have been able to ensure no disorder took place and remove him if there was trouble.