International Law: Big Business

hard level

Big Business - International Law / The people Vs Big business

Episode 211014/ 14 Oct 2021

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Transcript

Note: This is a transcript of a spoken conversation and is not a word-for-word script.

TimMultinational corporations can be huge even richer than some countries.

We'll show you how ordinary people have taken on massive corporations, using the power of the law.

The longest running libel case in British legal history: the two friends who took on the might of McDonald's...

Cancelled flights: the reason you can now get your money back in Europe...

You might have heard of McLibel, the longest running libel case in history in England.

Activists Helen

Steel and David Morris handed out a leaflet called 'What's wrong with McDonald's'.

It said McDonald's encouraged litter, was cruel to animals and its workers, and destroyed the rainforests. But McDonald's fought back, demanding that the activists apologise or go to court... which they did.

Well, the British judge said McDonald's were right and ordered Helen and David to pay 60,000 damages, which was later reduced to 40,000, but the case didn't end there. The activists went to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, taking action against the UK government this time.

They said, because they did not have access to legal aid, they didn't have a fair trial.

The court in Strasbourg agreed and also said their right to freedom of speech had not been protected. The UK government was ordered to pay 57,000!