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SPEECH Act
The Securing the Protection of our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage (SPEECH) Act is a 2010 federal statutory law in the United States that makes foreign libel judgments unenforceable in U.S. courts, unless either the foreign legislation applied offers at least as much protection as the U.S. First Amendment (concerning freedom of speech), or the defendant would have been found liable even if the case had been heard under U.S. law.
The act was passed by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama.
The act was written as a response to libel tourism. It creates a new cause of action and claim for damages against a foreign libel plaintiff, if they acted to deprive an American (or certain lawful aliens) of their right to free speech. Despite its goals, it has been criticized as an insufficiently strong response to the problem of libel tourism. Although it establishes a new cause of action in § 4104, and allows for the collection of "reasonable" attorneys' fees in § 4105, it does not allow for damages to plaintiffs, in contrast with stronger provisions in proposed bills which did not pass such as the Free Speech Protection Act of 2009 (H.R.1304, 111th Congress).
It was inspired by the legal battle that ensued between Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Saudi businessman Khalid bin Mahfouz over her 2003 book Funding Evil.
The Act amends Part VI of title 28, United States Code, by adding a new section 181 titled "Foreign Judgments". The legislation as signed contains findings that overseas libel claims have a chilling effect on free speech, matters of "serious public interest", and investigative journalism, and that internationally, little has been done about this. The Act provides that:
Various burdens of proof and cost allocations are also specified.
The Act was passed unanimously in both the House of Representatives and the Senate (as H.R. 2765) before being signed by President Obama on August 10, 2010. Two earlier bills had aimed to address the topic of libel tourism, both with the proposed title of the "Free Speech Protection Act"; they were introduced in 2008 and 2009, in the 110th and 111th United States Congress respectively, but neither was passed.
The SPEECH Act has been endorsed by several U.S. organizations, including the American Library Association, the Association of American Publishers, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and the American Civil Liberties Union.
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SPEECH Act
The Securing the Protection of our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage (SPEECH) Act is a 2010 federal statutory law in the United States that makes foreign libel judgments unenforceable in U.S. courts, unless either the foreign legislation applied offers at least as much protection as the U.S. First Amendment (concerning freedom of speech), or the defendant would have been found liable even if the case had been heard under U.S. law.
The act was passed by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama.
The act was written as a response to libel tourism. It creates a new cause of action and claim for damages against a foreign libel plaintiff, if they acted to deprive an American (or certain lawful aliens) of their right to free speech. Despite its goals, it has been criticized as an insufficiently strong response to the problem of libel tourism. Although it establishes a new cause of action in § 4104, and allows for the collection of "reasonable" attorneys' fees in § 4105, it does not allow for damages to plaintiffs, in contrast with stronger provisions in proposed bills which did not pass such as the Free Speech Protection Act of 2009 (H.R.1304, 111th Congress).
It was inspired by the legal battle that ensued between Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Saudi businessman Khalid bin Mahfouz over her 2003 book Funding Evil.
The Act amends Part VI of title 28, United States Code, by adding a new section 181 titled "Foreign Judgments". The legislation as signed contains findings that overseas libel claims have a chilling effect on free speech, matters of "serious public interest", and investigative journalism, and that internationally, little has been done about this. The Act provides that:
Various burdens of proof and cost allocations are also specified.
The Act was passed unanimously in both the House of Representatives and the Senate (as H.R. 2765) before being signed by President Obama on August 10, 2010. Two earlier bills had aimed to address the topic of libel tourism, both with the proposed title of the "Free Speech Protection Act"; they were introduced in 2008 and 2009, in the 110th and 111th United States Congress respectively, but neither was passed.
The SPEECH Act has been endorsed by several U.S. organizations, including the American Library Association, the Association of American Publishers, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and the American Civil Liberties Union.