We welcome comments on our posts. Our readers and commenters are usually a hugely well informed, knowledgeable, witty and interesting group of people.

However, there has been an increase in the number of ‘post and run’ commenters just trying to get a link to their website. There has also been an increase in the number of people adding comments seeking advice or assistance with their own individual issues, although we have long made it clear that we cannot offer advice via the blog. There have also been people who add comments which contain assertions about identifiable individuals which are not supported by evidence, or are rude or abusive in tone, or are potentially defamatory. I don’t want to have to learn more about Pharmacal orders than I already have done.

Usually any such comments get deleted or edited by us as appropriate. If we’re busy, some slip through the net for a while. Sometimes people have taken exception to having their comments edited and suggested that we had no right to do so.

So, after some discussion and in recognition that Nearly Legal is teetering on the edge of being a bit of an institution, we’ve decided that a formal policy on comments is probably a good idea. The comment policy is here and is also linked to on the ‘About’ page. We don’t think that there is anything in there that amounts to much more than commonsense, a statement of the basic legal position and an acknowledgement that a person’s comments are their responsibility.

The level of comment on the blog is extraordinarily high and debates are usually civil, if sometimes robust. We are just looking to ensure things stay that way.