A protester in Kuala Lumpur: the media law report says Malaysia still uses legislation originating in the colonial era when the primary aim was the subjugation of the population.
individuals; but also, too frequently, we are told that it is at the hands of politicians and police. Regrettably, it is often during
election campaigns that the harshest reprisals against the media are recorded. It is ironic that during the most important democratic process, the voice of the people is so often stifled. One of the great gifts the
Commonwealth brings us is a shared language, history and – most importantly – legal system. Unfortunately, many of the laws in place today, particularly those used
against the media, are remnants of the colonial era, a legacy from the days in which a powerful colonial master was seeking to suppress a native population. In the 21st century, this has to
change. These laws, particularly criminal defamation, are inappropriate and indeed according to Geoffrey Robertson, QC, the eminent human rights campaigner: “The law of criminal libel is an unnecessary relic of the past that is now generally agreed to have no place in modern jurisprudence.”2
102 | The Parliamentarian | 2012: Issue Two
Criminal libel is an affront to any
democracy. It is a brutal relic of the past that today is only within the reach of the wealthy or the political classes. Of course a person must have the right to defend their reputation in court if necessary; but this is adequately covered by civil libel.
One of the most extraordinary
issues surrounding libel generally is that, unlike any other defence, truth is not a defence, unless the defendant can convince of jury that publication is also in the public interest.
Stealth controls But other, possibly more subversive, laws are still used on a daily basis throughout the Commonwealth to keep an independent media under control. These include such issues as:
licensing journalists or newspapers, stealth taxes on newsprint, sedition, emergency powers, disseminating false news, privacy laws and contempt of court, the last of which is increasingly being used to curb the media in some jurisdictions. Many of these laws are directly