Writer Sues for Libel Over Bad Book Review!

No author likes a bad review, but one academic decided to do something about it—she sued. Even more unusual, the Israel-based writer of an English-language book by a Dutch publisher that was reviewed in 2007 by a German professor for an American journal decided to sue in a French court. So what horrific things did the reviewer say about Karin N. Calvo-Goller's The Trial Proceedings of the International Criminal Court?

Thomas Weigend wrote it has "analytical nuggets" and “meticulously covers all relevant topics,” but observed that it rehashes "the existing legal set-up" and found the author's “conceptual grasp” of some matters to be questionable. Quips Adam Liptak in the New York Times, "Indeed, it would not be hard to find a more caustic review on any given Sunday in this newspaper." But Calvo-Goller insisted the review be deleted, and when the editor refused, she filed a criminal complaint against both Weigend and the editor that published it. “The author has obviously done more damage to her reputation by making this criminal complaint than would have been possible by any book review," wrote a law professor on his blog. The verdict is expected on March 3.