Defamation

Juries will be abolished in High Court defamation cases from next month, the government has confirmed. Justice, home affairs and migration minister Jim O'Callaghan yesterday signed a commencement order bringing most of the provisions of the Defamation (Amendment) Act 2026 into force from 1 March 202

Major reforms to defamation law have been approved by the Oireachtas, with further legislation on so-called SLAPPs to follow quickly on its heels. The Defamation (Amendment) Bill will abolish juries in High Court defamation cases in what are the biggest reforms in this area of the law since 2009.

Amazon has again failed in a bid to stay defamation proceedings brought by media lawyer Paul Tweed in relation to a book published in 2023. Mr Tweed is suing the online retail giant as well as Georgetown University Press, the publisher of Dr Andreas Kreig's 2023 book Subversion: The Strategic W

Donald Trump is seeking $10 billion in damages from the BBC in defamation proceedings now filed with a court in Florida.

RDJ LLP partner Darryl Broderick suggests an €800,000 award against Denis O'Brien is and will likely remain an outlier in defamation cases. Two Northern Ireland-based human rights solicitors were each awarded in excess of €400,000 on 21 November, after a jury in the High Court in Dublin de

Northern Ireland lawyers Darragh Mackin and Gavin Booth will each receive more than €410,000 in damages after being defamed by businessman Denis O'Brien and his spokesperson, James Morrissey. A High Court jury in Dublin found on Friday that Mr Mackin and Mr Booth were defamed in a press release

Northern Ireland’s High Court has struck out defences to defamation raised by a woman who published material received in discovery and defamatory material concerning her former employer on X and Substack. Delivering judgment in October, Mr Justice Adrian Colton said: "On any showing it is clea

Presidential candidate Heather Humphreys is being sued for defamation by a left-wing TD following remarks she made about a high-profile criminal case. Dublin firm Prospect Law is reportedly acting for Paul Murphy, the People Before Profit TD for Dublin South-West, in proceedings lodged with the High

The Master of Northern Ireland’s High Court has assessed damages for defamation at £100,000 in favour of Peter Jackson, father of Paddy Jackson. Delivering judgment for the High Court, Master Mark Harvey highlighted: “The lesson for the defendant in this case, and frankly for those

Professionals would overwhelmingly prefer judges to juries in defamation cases, a survey by business law firm Mason Hayes & Curran has found. The firm surveyed 140 attendees at its dispute resolution conference, of whom 95 per cent said they considered a judge would deliver more predictable outc

Dr Eoin O'Dell reminds Senator Michael McDowell, following his rebuke of social media platforms for online defamation, that he still has an opportunity to do something about it. Last week, in his column in The Irish Times, Michael McDowell took social media platforms to task for shirking their respo

Northern Ireland’s High Court has determined in a defamation case that the single correct meaning of impugned words used in a book and on the X platform was that solicitor Paul Tweed acted unprofessionally. Delivering judgment for the High Court of Northern Ireland, Mr Justice Adrian Colton ex

Former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has donated €100,000 to charity following his victory in a high-profile defamation case brought against the BBC. In a statement yesterday, Johnsons Solicitors said the BBC have now discharged the order of the court in relation to the compensation of

The Supreme Court has determined that Iconic Newspapers Ltd could not rely on the defence of qualified privilege in respect of a publication which erroneously stated that William Bird featured on Revenue’s "tax defaulters list". Delivering judgment for the Supreme Court, Mr Justice Maurice Col

Government plans to tackle so-called SLAPPs are likely to be "impotent in practice" and could see Ireland hauled before the EU courts, legal experts and more than two dozen civil society organisations have warned. The Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024, which includes anti-SLAPP provisions alongside i