Conville & Walsh

Conville and Walsh are delighted to congratulate Simon Singh, following news that The British Chiropractic Association’s high-profile libel case against him has been dropped.

As the BBC reported this morning, Dr Singh was being sued by the organisation because of comments he had made in the Guardian in 2008 about the effectiveness of chiropractic. The case itself had sparked an intense debate about the role of libel actions in areas of scientific controversy. Dr Singh recently won an appeal that would have allowed him to use the fair comment defence in the case. On Thursday, the website of William McCormick QC, one of the barristers acting for Simon Singh, said the British Chiropractic Association has served a “Notice of Discontinuance”. This means the case is now over.

There had been calls for the BCA to drop its case after the appeal, not least from the Orwell prize-nominated Jack of Kent blog, which had been following the case from the beginning.

Speaking today, Simon commented that ‘it still staggers me that the British Chiropractic Association and half the chiropractors in the UK were making unsubstantiated claims. It still baffles me that the BCA then dared to sue me for libel and put me through two years of hell before I was vindicated. And it still makes me angry that our libel laws not only tolerate but also encourage such ludicrous libel suits. English libel law is so intimidating, so expensive, so hostile to serious journalists that it has a chilling effect on all areas of debate, silencing scientists, journalists, bloggers, human rights activists and everyone else who dares to tackle serious matters of public interest.’

Dr Michael Collis, Chief Executive of The Physiological Society, said: ‘It’s great news that the libel case against science writer Simon Singh has been dropped. Freedom to criticise and question is the cornerstone of scientific debate.’

For more information about the ongoing campaign to change Britain’s libel laws, visit the Sense About Science website.