InFin, Smith & Hogan (the Criminal Law Bible, and about as weighty as the RSV) 5th. Edition, is dated 1983 - so criminal libel certainly existed then, not merely back in the dim and distant past.
I'd be the first to state that a lot of my information may be out of date, and it's a long time since I wrote an opinion...
If the 1998 Act repealed any of the common law of criminal libel, I shall be the first to buy you a drink @ LGW in December!
