The European Court of Human Rights recently ruled in favour of the UK ban on political advertising, but all the ban does is prevent campaign groups from being heard.
People posting offensive comments online will be largely protected from prosecution under new guidelines being published by Keir Starmer.
Beatles frontman Paul McCartney has become the latest celebrity to offer his support to Russian punk girl group Pussy Riot by sending an open letter defending "artistic freedom".
An arcane law protecting judges from criticism could be scrapped after legal experts raised concerns it was incompatible with people's right to free speech.
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