A Crisis of Democratic Accountability: Public Libel Law and the Checking Function of the Press

This book undertakes a comparative study of the public interest and political speech defences in defamation law, particularly from the perspective of the misuse of democratic free expression justifications. Specifically, it argues that the law and legal approach taken by leading courts and legislatures in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States-five common law comparators-is undertheorised, lacks adequate criteria for determining the correct form of the defence, and would benefit from a more precise understanding of `democracy', `accountability', and `representation'.

It will be of great interest to scholars interested in free speech, defamation and public law.