Overview

This bill amends the Crime and Courts Bill to introduce a new clause regarding the awarding of costs in legal cases related to the publication of news. It aims to protect smaller publishers from excessive legal costs by linking cost awards to membership of an approved regulator and its arbitration schemes.

Description

The amendment introduces a system where costs awards against publishers of news-related material depend on their membership of an approved regulator.

• Membership of an Approved Regulator: If a defendant publisher was a member of an approved regulator when the claim was filed (or had justifiable reasons for not being a member), the court cannot award costs against them unless the claim could have been resolved through the regulator's arbitration scheme, or it's deemed just and equitable to do so.
• Non-Membership: If a defendant publisher wasn't a member of an approved regulator (but could have reasonably been), the court must award costs against them unless the claim could not have been resolved via arbitration (had they been a member), or it's deemed just and equitable to make a different award or no award at all.
• Excluded Publishers: The bill excludes several types of publishers from the definition of "relevant publisher," including the BBC, Sianel Pedwar Cymru, licensed broadcasters, publishers of special interest titles or scientific/academic journals with incidental news content, public bodies and charities publishing news related to their functions, those publishing company newsletters with incidental news, and book publishers (excluding periodicals). An amendment adds small-scale bloggers to this exclusion.
• Arbitration: The bill requires the Secretary of State to establish mechanisms to protect parties involved in relevant claims who've used existing agreements under the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990.

Government Spending

The bill's financial impact is not explicitly stated in the provided text. The cost of establishing the mechanisms mentioned in subsection (5) (protecting parties who've entered agreements under section 58 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990) is likely to be an added government expense, the exact amount of which is not specified.

Groups Affected

• Publishers of news-related material: This bill primarily affects publishers, especially smaller ones. Those who are members of an approved regulator will have greater protection against cost awards in defamation or similar cases, whereas those who are not members may face significant financial burdens.
• Claimants: Claimants in legal actions against publishers will be affected by the changed rules regarding cost awards, making it more or less likely to receive costs depending on the publisher’s membership status.
• Approved Regulators: These bodies will be responsible for administering arbitration schemes, leading to increased workload and potential costs.
• The Courts: The courts will have a modified process for determining cost awards in cases involving news publishers.

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