News publishers welcome proposed changes to defamation laws

Local Ireland, the group that represents local news publishers across the country, has welcomed the draft defamation legislation published by the Government yesterday as "a step in the right direction".

President of Local Ireland Declan McGuire said: “This isn’t everything we have asked for, but it is welcome that the Government has now acted upon the Defamation Review published last year.

“Balancing the imperatives of press freedom and a person’s right to their good name is essential for a healthy democracy.

“The proposed measures will help redress the imbalance of the current legislation, which has had a chilling effect on journalism.”

Executive Director of Local Ireland Bob Hughes said: “We particularly welcome the requirement of solicitors to advise their clients of alternative dispute resolution options before issuing defamation proceedings.

“The anti-SLAPP measure to prevent Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation by powerful individuals and organisations is another important element in maintaining press freedom.

“We believe however that introducing a cap on damages and a serious harm test for all actions would also have been helpful in that regard.”

Under the draft legislation, juries would be abolished in High Court defamation cases.

Minister for Justice Simon Harris has said one of the reasons for this is to remove “uncertainty”.

“When a jury gives a verdict, the jury doesn’t have to lay out the mechanisms and the rationale behind that, so it actually injects huge uncertainty and a lack of predictability into our laws and our judgements in relation to these things,” he said.

Another measure outlines that when a person is defamed, the correction must be published with equal prominence to the original defamatory publication.

The Bill includes measures to tackle online defamation and also reforms on reducing legal costs and delays, incentivising alternative dispute resolution and supporting faster apologies and corrections.

Mr Harris said: “Democracy cannot truly flourish without robust protection for the right of freedom of expression.

“Of course, this must always be carefully balanced with safeguarding the individual right to good name and reputation, and the right of access to justice.

“I believe this legislation strikes the right balance between those rights.”