Updated in August 2019
The Media Defence manual on international and comparative media and freedom of expression law consists of a 136-page guide to international and comparative freedom of expression law, introducing topics ranging from defamation to national security restrictions on free speech.
The manual can also be used as a stand-alone overview guide to standards on media and freedom of expression law.
The manual and training presentations are aimed at an audience of lawyers, with experience of litigation, but not necessarily of media, freedom of expression or human rights law. It covers international and comparative law only, and should be supplemented with relevant national law standards for the country in which they are being used. It is important that journalists do not understand this manual as a statement of the rights they can expect to enjoy under national law. Trainers using this manual should be very clear on that and indicate in which respects national law differs from the international standards described in the manual, but also how litigation can be used as a tool to bring national law standards up to a higher level.