Matthew Nicklin on BBC Radio 4’s Law in Action

In the last of the present series, BBC Radio 4’s Law in Action looks at defamation litigation, celebrities and the rapidly developing privacy law.

The days of serial high-profile litigation involving the likes of Robert Maxwell and Jeffrey Archer may be gone, and million-pound libel payouts are a distant memory, but what purpose do defamation actions now serve? Is there no such thing as bad publicity for some “celebrities”?

Presenter Clive Coleman speaks to 5RB‘s Matthew Nicklin about changes in defamation litigation in the past 20 years and the impact of Conditional Fee Agreements and Private Eye editor Ian Hislop expresses his concern about CFAs and the “worrying speed” of the development of Britain’s new privacy laws.

• Hear the whole programme with BBC Radio “Listen Again” (the defamation and privacy discussion begins at 19:20)
• Law in Action – BBC Radio 4