The Value of Commercial Speech

Recent decisions in the courts have encouraged discussion of the extent to which the common law does or should place a high or higher value on political expression. Some scholars argue for a more explicit recognition of the high value of political speech, and would seek, for example, to 'constitutionalise' defamation laws. Others have adopted a more sceptical attitude to the desirability of importing American approaches to freedom of expression generally or to the privileging of political speech as a category.