Archbishop helps defeat Government over newspapers
THE ARCHBISHOP of York called for a restoration of “trust” in newspapers as he helped defeat the Government in the House of Lords as peers voted in favour of some of the Leveson proposals.
Peers voted overwhelmingly in favour of a move to introduce into law a low-cost arbitration system for defamation, as suggested by Lord Justice Leveson in his report on press regulation.
The system would be voluntary and reduce the cost of defamation cases, but newspapers who did not sign up could face exemplary damages in court cases.
Supporting the amendment to the Defamation Bill in the House of Lords, Dr John Sentamu said: “In the end, it is to do with trust. If trust is absent, what do you do?
“We all want to trust our newspapers, but what happens when there is no trust?
“The amendment proposes an: ‘Arbitration Service for defamation and related civil claims against members of Independent Regulatory Board’.
“Because it is to do, first of all, with a question of arbitration, I am attracted to it.
“I am attracted to it because the preacher from Galilee said that, if you have a dispute with your neighbour, it is better to try to settle it before you go to court, because when you go to court you may find yourself being given such a stiff sentence that you end up losing doubly.”
“Therefore, I am attracted by the whole question of arbitration. The courts, of course, can look at whether the parties were willing or unwilling to engage in arbitration. If a person has been wronged and another person does not think that is the case, arbitration obliges them to have a conversation. It seems to me that we should accept.”
He argued it was wrong that only the rich had “recourse to a remedy in defamation cases”.
And he added: “The press ought to welcome arbitration because it would cost far less than an elaborate court case, which may collapse in the end after a lot of costs have been incurred.”
The amendment, which was put forward by Labour’s Lord Puttnam, a film producer, was backed by a majority of 131, with six bishops, including Dr Sentamu voting in favour of it.