Lord Bach, the Justice Minister, has bowed to the weight of criticism and agreed that the offences of sedition and criminal libel are “outdated” and should be abolished. “Sedition and defamatory libel are arcane offences from a bygone era when freedom of expression wasn’t seen as the right it is today,” he said.

But it was not just a case of removing some redundant offences. The laws may not have been used much lately in Britain, but their significance was the legitimacy they provided to other countries to suppress public criticism.

As Lord Bach acknowledged: “The retention of these obsolete offences has been cited by other countries as justification for the retention of similar laws that have been used to restrict press freedom.”

The laws have been the target of a campaign by a coalition of writers, lawyers, entertainers and politicians, and have drawn criticism from such names as Rowan Atkinson, the actor, and Andrew O’Hagan, the writer, as well as from the groups Index on Censorship, Liberty, English PEN and Article 19.

Strong opposition in Parliament was led by Dr Evan Harris, the Liberal Democrat MP, and by Lord Lester of Herne Hill in the Lords. Both tabled amendments in the Commons and the Lords to the Coroners and Justice Bill.

Lord Bach agreed to accept the amendments in principle and will now bring forward a Government amendment that will achieve the same effect.

The offences date from the time of the Star Chamber and were used in 1792 against Thomas Paine on the ground that the Rights of Man brought into hatred and contempt the present sovereign, Parliament, kingdom, constitution, laws and government.

An act of sedition is one that incites hatred or contempt for the king, government or constitution. It is widely cast: sedition is any act done or word spoken or written and published which has a “seditious tendency” or done, spoken or written and published with a “seditious intent”.

Criminal libel is rare but similarly oppressive. Even though the vast majority of libel actions are brought through the civil courts, crown prosecutors can press charges for criminal libel if it is thought to be in the public interest. The penalty is up to two years in jail and an unlimited fine.

Something is considered defamatory if calculated to expose a person to public hatred, contempt or ridicule and involves publishing something defamatory in writing or any other permanent form.

Peter Hain, the Cabinet minister, narrowly escaped a prosecution for criminal libel 30 years ago. As an anti-apartheid campaigner, he had used a magazine to name Geoffrey Rippon, the last Tory environment secretary, as the third minister in the Norma Levy call girl scandal. The scandal prompted the resignations of Lord Lambton, the then defence minister, and Lord Jellicoe, the then Lord Privy Seal.

Lord Lester told peers there were four prosecutions from 1948 to 1975; five committals for trial between 1970 and 1983; 13 people found guilty or cautioned between 1984 and 1995 and five were found guilty or cautioned between 1996 and 2001. Five libels were reported to the police from 2002 to 2007 and two people were found guilty up to the end of 2006.

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