Defamation Act and media freedom

Sir, – Mr Justice Bernard Barton (retired) is to be commended for his persistence in defending the right to a jury in defamation cases (August 16th). It is unfortunate that so respected a jurist sees no concomitant need to defend the right of citizens to freedom of expression. His letter follows a lengthy contribution to the Joint Oireachtas Justice Committee on June 20th, and an 1,800 word piece in this paper on August 7th in which he makes not one reference to freedom of expression. This is despite the fact that the “right of the citizens to express freely their convictions and opinions” is conferred in the same Article 40 of the Constitution which confers our right to a good name.

“Frequent defamation suits, high costs of defence and high damages awarded by Irish courts are seen as an inducement to self-censorship and a constraint to media freedom, also to the detriment of the fight against corruption.” This quotation comes not from ISME, but from the European Commission’s Rule of Law Report 2020. Nothing has yet been done to address its concerns.

Annual criticism of our defamation laws is now a recurring feature of the EU Commission’s Rule of Law reports, as is condemnation of our excessive legal costs in its semester reports. The European Court of Human Rights considers our defamation laws to constitute a breach of our rights under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights to freedom of expression. Yet Mr Barton has voiced no concern on any of these issues. Will any serving or former member of the Irish judiciary voice support for Minister for Justice Helen McEntee’s minimal (and in our view insufficient) proposals to reform the Defamation Act? It’s not too late. – Yours, etc,

NEIL McDONNELL,