Simon Singh has won his libel case - over a piece he wrote in the Guardian.
The British Chiropractic Association dropped its libel action against the science writer today, filing a notice of discontinuation in the high court.
The case had become a cause celebre, with scientists, celebrities and freedom of speech campaigners lining up to condemn the British libel laws and argue that Singh had a right to express his opinion in print.
The sudden end to the case (read the full judgment here) will strengthen the campaign for reform of the libel laws, which Jack Straw, the justice secretary, is considering. It is also a specific pledge in the Liberal Democrats' manifesto.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Justice, libel cases have seen a huge jump recently - and big cases are now the largest percentage of the total they have ever been. The Libel Reform Campaign now has 50,000 signatures in its' petition to reform the laws - in addition to commitments from Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
And defending yourself in a libel case is an expensive buisness: Singh tells the Datablog he lost 46 solid weeks of work in defending his article and it cost him £200,000.
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