Gagging abuse 'rare'

The perceived problem of solicitors abusing defamation procedure by issuing gagging writs has all but disappeared, the Law Commission said last week.

The Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, asked the commission earlier this year for a report on the problems caused by sending gagging writs and letters - when claimants send threatening correspondence or start proceedings without following them up.

The report concluded that 'the incidence of "gagging" by either writ or letter is now rare, if it exists at all', and said no action is needed.

Nigel Tait, a partner with London libel firm Peter Carter-Ruck & Partners, said: 'The point that the report makes - that gagging is no longer a problem - is a valid one, but I am surprised that the Law Commission felt the need to examine the issue.'

Since the introduction of the Civil Procedure Rules in 2000, said Mr Tait, parties have found it nigh impossible to use gagging writs.

Amber Melville-Brown, the Gazette's media law columnist and a partner at leading London-based libel firm Schilling & Lom, said she would be 'surprised' at any evidence of the use of gagging writs.

'Defamation, even after the introduction of the Civil Procedure Rules, can be a time-consuming and expensive business, fraught with risks, and a claimant does not enter into litigation lightly.'

However, the commission has invited the government to examine whether secondary publishers of material have sufficient legal protection from tactical targetting of defamation actions.

Victoria MacCallum