Defamation

A journalist who was sued by pro-Brexit businessman Arron Banks for libel in relation to a TED talk video and a tweet has won in the High Court of Justice (Queen's Bench Division). The court found that although the statements in the video were defamatory, there was a legitimate public interest defen

British businessman Arron Banks, who played a high-profile role in the Brexit referendum by bankrolling campaign group Leave.EU, has failed in a libel action brought against investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr. Mr Banks brought the High Court proceedings against Ms Cadwalladr, a journalist wi

The High Court has refused an application by Gerry Adams to strike out a portion of the BBC’s defence in defamation proceedings. Mr Adams claimed that a defence of fair and reasonable publication should be struck out because the BBC did not alert readers that an article was the subject of defa

Juries will be scrapped in defamation cases as part of wide-ranging reforms announced by ministers yesterday. The government's long-awaited review of the Defamation Act 2009 was published yesterday, running to more than 300 pages and making a number of recommendations largely aimed at reducing "disp

Proposals to reform Ireland's defamation laws are expected to be discussed by ministers this week. A long-awaited review of the Defamation Act 2009 was completed in 2020 but has yet to be published. In December 2021, justice minister Helen McEntee committed to bringing it to the cabinet "in the new

A long-awaited report on defamation law reform will not be published this year, the Department of Justice has admitted. A review of the Defamation Act 2009 has been promised since 2014, but the final report has been awaiting publication since October 2020.

A long-awaited report on defamation law reform will be published by the end of October, justice minister Heather Humphreys has said. Mrs Humphreys told a briefing in Dublin that publishing the report could be one of her last acts as justice minster before Helen McEntee returns from maternity leave,

The High Court in Dublin has granted applications by singer Dana Rosemary Scallon to strike out 10-year-old defamation actions issued against her. Mr Justice Brian O Moore acceded to motions applications made by counsel Eamonn Dornan to strike out the defamation proceedings issued against Ms Sc

Tina English and Lee O'Donovan look at a recent opinion from the European Court on the scope of 'takedown orders' imposed on host providers. Advocate General Szpunar (the “AG”) of the Court of Justice (“CJEU”) has stated in a noteworthy opinion that the E-Commerce Directive (