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The seemingly endless libel case brought by the British Chiropractic Association against Simon Singh reached a definitive and happy conclusion in London today. The UK’s libel laws are wacky — the burden of proof is on the accused. So when Singh tossed around words like “bogus” to describe the back-cracking pseudoscience of chiropractic, the BCA came after him, accusing him of slander. It cost Singh nearly two years, 200,000 GBP and a gig as a columnist to defend himself.

The decision today lets Singh use the defense of “fair comment” in appealing the libel suit. Seems like an obvious conclusion to me, but those of us in the USA shouldn’t be too quick about pointing out the absurdities or other legal systems.

Singh was clearly relieved and beaming, on what appears to be a lovely Spring day in the UK. (See video on the BBC site.) “It shouldn’t be so horrendously expensive for a journalist or an academic journal or a scientist to defend what they mean,” he said excitedly.

I am also excited, as I contributed to the whole cause in my own little way…. I was one of the early bloggers to rant on and on about this crime against rational thinking.

[The source for this news was a piece on the BBC web site, "Science writer Simon Singh wins libel appeal", April 1 2010]

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• Simon Singh wins libel court battle (guardian.co.uk)

From Sense About Science comes the latest news on the British Chiropractic Association’s libel suit against science writer Simon Singh. Today is a big deal; I will post news as I hear it:

“Simon Singh’s libel case with the British Chiropractic Association appears before the Court of Appeal in London [...] Tuesday 23rd February. His case will be heard by three of the most powerful legal figures in the UK, Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge, Master of the Rolls Lord Neuberger and Lord Justice Sedley and has been named one of the top ten cases to watch in 2010 by The Lawyer magazine.”

[I would like to point out that The Lawyer nicked my title -- "Simon Singh's Bogus Journey" -- which I first used in a post on May 15, 2009, and many times after. Frikkin' lawyers. Totally bogus. ]

More news from Simon Singh and libelreform.org’s continuing battle against nonsense in the UK, but this time it’s kinda fun. Singh and pals have organized a benefit featuring some of the UK’s top comedy talents, as well as some of the noble science geeks who are out to reform Britain’s ridiculous libel laws.

Readers of this site are well-aware of Singh’s “bogus journey” — he has been sued for libel simply for calling “shennanigans” on the practice of chiropractic. Follow the libelreform.org links for more outrageous examples of weird, anti-science lawsuits.

From the press release:

The Big Libel Gig on Sunday 14 March 2010 at the London’s Palace Theatre will raise funds to support the Coalition for Libel Reform. An eclectic line-up, including Dara Ó Briain, Tim Minchin, Marcus Brigstocke, Robin Ince, Ed Byrne, Shappi Khorsandi, Professor Brian Cox, Simon Singh, Professor Richard Wiseman, Dr Peter Wilmshurst and Dr Ben Goldacre, is supporting the campaign for a public interest defence to protect writers, bloggers, academics, human rights activists and performers.

The Big Libel Gig is the brainchild of comedian Robin Ince – whose previous successes include the annual Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People shows and who will be hosting the evening – and Simon Singh, the science author and broadcaster, who will be talking frankly about the impact of libel fears on scientific debate.

Simon Singh, who is currently being sued by the British Chiropractic Association, said: “Peter Wilmshurst, Ben Goldacre and I will talk about being sued for libel. Peter is being sued for raising concerns about a heart device. He faces bankruptcy by coming up against our draconian libel laws. We are all put at risk if doctors and scientists are scared to speak out because of English libel laws.”

Tickets go on sale today, so if you’re going to be in London, buy some by clicking here.

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• Video: Simon Singh on libel tourism and the ‘chilling effect’ on science journalism (blogs.journalism.co.uk)
• Danish scientist sued by drug firm under British libel laws to counterclaim (guardian.co.uk)

Sile Lane and Simon Singh are once again urging to you join the Libel Reform Coalition by signing their petition at www.libelreform.org

As I’ve reported before, Singh and his supporters — Sense About Science, Index on Censorship and English PEN — are seeking signatures for a newly revised “Keep Libel Laws Out of Science” petition. Please go to www.libelreform.org and sign! Those of us on this side of the pond are urged to sign as well.

I’ll let the gents speak for themselves:

You know we joined up with free speech organisations to form the Libel Reform Coalition* in December and that we have been working hard with many of you to highlight the impact of England’s libel laws from my own and Peter Wilmshurst’s cases to the chilling effect on medical journals and science blogs and other writing. This has begun to focus political and legal minds on the problem but we now have very little time to go before election manifestos are published. We need a commitment in those manifestos. Many of the politicians we’ve met don’t dispute that the libel laws are unfair and against the public interest, but they won’t commit to changing them….

There were a few teething problems at the launch of this site but progress has been made in fixing these. If you haven’t already signed this petition please do it now, and please do sign even if you don’t live in the UK. Get your organisation, friends, colleagues and clubs to sign up and email their members; if you haven’t written, blogged and Tweeted, could you?

We need your help to get 100,000 signatures before manifestos are published. It will help us to get a strong show of support before members of the coalition meet Jack Straw on Thursday 28th January.

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• “Keep Libel Laws Out Of Science” (languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu)
• Libel reform campaigners seek £10k damages cap (theregister.co.uk)

The champions of reason over at Sense About Science recently published their annual collection of famous folk who spout unscientific (and often dangerous) nonsense. Celebrities and Science 2009 singles out a variety of celebs, recapping their fuzzy beliefs and countering them with educated rebuttals. Highlights include:

Heather Mills claims it is “a fact” that meat sits in your digestive tract for 40 years and kills you.

Roger Moore insists that eating foie gras gives you Alzheimer’s.

Suzanne Somers suggests that Patrick Swayze was killed by his treatment.

Fergie believes vinegar shots burns fat.

These are pretty tame, if misguided claims. I’m surprised that Sense About Science didn’t single out Oprah, Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey for their remarkably dangerous and ignorant anti-vaccination campaign — these are much bigger celebs and a much bigger controversy. (See Phil Plaitt’s posts at Bad Astronomy for some good info on the subject.)

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• Roger Moore can’t persuade me | Agnès Poirier (guardian.co.uk)
• Beware the celebrity quacks: Megan Fox says vinegar will keep you slim (telegraph.co.uk)