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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.

Related articles by Zemanta

• 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.

Related articles by Zemanta

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

Simon Singh continues to fight the good fight against pseudoscience and the U.K.’s onerous libel laws. A quick reminder: Singh was sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association for his use of the word “bogus” in his writing about the back-crackin’ quackery. (See previous posts.)

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. As Simon says:

…for those supporters who live overseas, please also add your name to the petition and encourage others to do the same; unfortunately and embarrassingly, English libel laws impact writers in the rest of the world, but now you can help change those laws by showing your support for libel reform. While I fight in my own libel battle, I hope that you will fight the bigger battle of libel reform.

Related articles by Zemanta

• UK Libel Laws, Scientific Criticism, Chilling Effects, Bloggers And The Streisand Effect (techdirt.com)
• How our senior libel judge stamps on free speech – all over the world (guardian.co.uk)
• Writer wins chiropractors case ruling (guardian.co.uk)

The latest news on the Simon Singh libel case in the UK has arrived from Sense About Science, and it’s encouraging. Singh, who was sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association for his use of the word “bogus”, has been granted an appeal by Lord Justice Laws in a tartly worded opinion. The ruling states that the Singh article was in the “public interest, with no suspicion of malice” and that there is “no question of good faith.”

Singh is cautiously optimistic but warns that he is not out of the woods yet. Read more at Sense About Science and indexoncensorship.org