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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor

Ukraine war ‘opening eyes’ to need to reform England’s libel laws, says lawyer

Geoffrey Robertson
Geoffrey Robertson: ‘Ironic and ridiculous the UK’s Sanctions Act permits oligarchs sanctioned for human rights abuses … to bring in money to pay lawyers to repair their reputation that they don’t have.’ Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has helped “open eyes” to the idea of reforming England’s increasingly draconian libel and privacy laws, according to one of the country’s leading media advocates.

Geoffrey Robertson KC, author of a new book on efforts by the rich and powerful to suppress free speech, Lawfare, said the war revealed the cynical way wealthy Russians – and others – have exploited the English legal system.

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