A crisis of democratic accountability : public libel law and the checking function of the press / Randall Stephenson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stephenson, Randall, 1971- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Libel and slander--English-speaking countries.

Libel and slander.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (271 pages)

Place of Publication:

Oxford, UK : Hart Publishing, 2018.

Summary:

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 approaches taken by leading courts and legislatures in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States - five common law comparators - are undertheorised, lack adequate criteria for determining the correct form of the defence, and would benefit from a more precise understanding of 'democracy', 'accountability', and 'representation'. The book will be of great interest to scholars of free speech, defamation and public law

Contents:

Balancing freedom of expression and reputation in constitutional context

Methodological barriers to democratic theorising

Indeterminate balancing in public libel doctrine : generic rules and "implied rights"

Overlooking the checking function of the press

Conflating Meiklejohnian theory and the checking function of the press

Distinguishing the checking function from Meiklejohnian theory : lessons from public accountability and neo-republicanism

A revised analytical framework : accountability dysfunctions, public libel doctrine, and the institutional press

Assessing Britain's political accountability profile

Reinstating the checking function in Bitain's constitutional context

Conclusion : prospective challenges to public libel law reform.

Notes:

Based on author's thesis (doctoral - University of Oxford, 2017).

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9781509920822

150992082X

9781509920846

1509920846

9781509920839

1509920838

OCLC:

1028582366