DEFAMATION LAW IN IRELAND

1
DEFAMATION LAW IN IRELAND

• Augustine O Connell
• MSc (Comp Sc) MBCS

2

• Balance of rights
• Article 40.6.1.i of the Irish Constitution says
  that the State guarantees the right of citizens
  to express freely their convictions and opinions.
  But the right of freedom of expression in Ireland
  is not absolute
• The right of freedom of speech is also guaranteed
  by Article 10 (1) of the European Human Rights
  Convention

3

• as are necessary in a democratic society in the
  interests of national security, territorial
  integrity or public safety, for the prevention of
  disorder or crime, for the protection of health
  or morals, for the protection of the reputation
  or rights of others, for preventing the
  disclosure of information received in confidence
  or for maintaining the authority and impartiality
  of the judiciary

4
What is defamation?

• The traditional definition of defamation was
  publication of a false statement, which subjected
  a person to hatred, ridicule or contempt. That
  rather archaic definition has given way to a more
  modern one a defamatory statement is one that
  tends to lower the reputation of the subject in
  the eyes of right-thinking people

5

• Defamation is divided into two forms libel and
  slander. Historically, libel was the written form
  of defamation, while slander was the spoken form.
  A defamatory statement broadcast on radio or
  television or the Internet would be regarded as
  libellous, rather than slanderous. The
  essential practical difference between libel and
  slander nowadays is that, in a slander action,
  the plaintiff (that is the person bringing the
  action) has to prove that the words caused him
  actual damage, financial or otherwise.

6

• An actionable defamatory statement has three
  ingredients
• it must be published,
• it must refer to the complainant and
• it must be false.

7
Publication

• A defamatory statement is only actionable if it
  is published. In the 1840 case of Ahern v
  Maguire, Chief Baron Brady said that, if a letter
  however slanderous, is received only by the
  person to whom it is addressed, and does not go
  beyond him, there is no publication of it in law
  to support an action for libel. (But a wrongly
  addressed letter containing defamatory remarks
  would be actionable if opened by someone other
  than the subject of the remarks.)

8
Defence of justification

• Only a false statement is actionable. But
  defamation differs from other torts in that a
  statement will be presumed to be defamatory until
  proved otherwise. If a defendant wishes to plead
  justification as a defence, he has to prove the
  truth of the statement. It is not up to the
  complainant to prove that the original statement
  was false.

9
Fair comment

• In order to plead fair comment, the publisher
  must be able to show that
• the report was on a matter of public interest
• the statement was a comment, rather than a fact
  and
• the comment was fair, in that the belief was
  honestly held
• It is a matter for the court to decide whether
  words are facts or comments.

10
Privilege

• If a statement is privileged, a potential
  plaintiff has no cause of action. There are two
  types of privilege absolute privilege and
  qualified privilege. In the case of absolute
  privilege, the intentions of the publisher are
  irrelevant.

11
Reasonable care

• The Law Reform Commission recommended that a
  publisher should be allowed to plead in his
  defence that he had exercised reasonable care
  prior to publication in attempting to ascertain
  the truth of the allegation. But so far, this
  proposal is not part of Irish law, and the
  defence of reasonable care will not be enough to
  prevent an action for defamation (although it may
  mitigate damages.)

12
Damages

• Damages in a defamation case may be high enough
  to put a media organisation out of business -
  even before considering the matter of legal
  costs. Because of the high risk of defending a
  defamation action, the unpredictability of juries
  and the heavy legal costs of a hearing, the
  majority of libel cases are settled before coming
  to court.

13
DEFAMATION ACT 1961

• The law of defamation in Ireland is governed by
  the Constitution, Common Law and the Defamation
  Act 1961. That Act repeals a number of previous
  pieces of legislation - including the Act of
  Slaunder, passed at the time of King Henry VIII