Full text of paper presented at breakfast seminar hosted by Media Association of Jamaica at Terra Nova hotel on July 12, 2010. Presenter Kathy Ann Waterman is a Trinidadian journalist and editor who is also an attorney at law.

"IS MR. SULLIVAN MR. RIGHT?"

INTRODUCTION
The Media Association of Jamaica ought to be congratulated for keeping alive the issue of freedom of the press and engaging the region in the discussion. The last time we in Trinidad and Tobago had any public debate about libel law reform was 1997 and it all ended in a huge row between then PM Basdeo Panday and Ken Gordon, head of Caribbean Communications Network, publishers of the Express newspaper. The government had published a Green Paper  outlining its proposals for reform and Ken Gordon heavily criticised the Green Paper and Mr Panday’s administration. This led to Mr Panday accusing Mr Gordon of being a pseudo-racist which led to Mr Gordon launching a defamation suit which went all the way to the Privy Council and was concluded in Mr Gordon’s favour.  Since then, no one has been talking about libel law reform.

Seminar held on September 28, 2009 - Views on the Direction of Recommendations made in the Justice Hugh Small Report "Review of Jamaica's Defamation Laws".

Guest Speaker:  Jeff Cumberbatch, Attorney-At-Law and Consultant, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados.

ADDRESS:

INTRODUCTION
I am asked to analyse the report and recommendations of the Small Committee on the reform of the law of defamation in Jamaica.  I have chosen to do so based on the assumption that these recommendations will be accepted in whole by the Jamaica legislature; and my present concern is what implications such an acceptance will have for freedom of expression for the media in Jamaica.