The committee also wants it to be made more difficult for foreign "libel tourists" and big companies to bring British libel actions.

England has long been a mecca for aggrieved people from around the world who want to sue for libel. Russian oligarchs, Saudi businessmen, multinational corporations, American celebrities — all have made their way to London's courts, where jurisdiction is easy to obtain and libel laws are heavily weighted in favor of complainants….The justice secretary, Jack Straw, said recently that he was alarmed about ''libel tourism.''

Prominent figures around the world, in the United States and especially Russia, are queueing up to bring defamation cases to Britain, even if the actions appear to have only a passing connection with this country. The attraction is the relative ease of success in English libel law.