How social media has left the law behind

SIR – A matter which is well-illustrated by the case of Sir Philip Green is the way in which the law regarding defamation has been rendered impotent by the internet.

Suppose, for example, that an eminent person who has been libelled in a tweet instructs his solicitors to take action. They may find that the originator of the tweet is a 14-year-old boy who lives in Nebraska, and that his original tweet has been redistributed by people in Tokyo, Manila, Brisbane and Brunei.

Such a situation inevitably leads to a case of what lawyers used to call damnum sine iniuria: damage without right of redress. Brian Checkland

Thingwall, Wirral

SIR – Non-disclosure agreements are not only used for “gagging”.

When I sold my business, payment was to be made in several tranches over a set period. I was asked to sign an NDA to protect “trade secrets and customer details”. Every time payment was due the buyer claimed I had breached the NDA, which I had not, and refused to pay up. At each stage I started litigation and the buyer capitulated at the last minute and paid all my costs. They obviously thought it was worth a try. Duncan Rayner

Sunningdale, Berkshire

SIR – David Kidd (Letters, October 27) is, I fear, misguided: Parliament is sovereign and is not subject to the orders of a court. While Mr Kidd may dislike it, Lord Hain was within his rights to name Sir Philip Green.

The power of our constitution lies with the sovereign in Parliament, not the courts. William Stebbings

Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

SIR – Dominic Grieve’s suggestion that Lord Hain has undermined the legal processes seemed like a case of the pot calling the kettle black, given his desperate attempts to overthrow the democratic vote to leave the EU. Anthony Marlow

Leatherhead, Surrey