In CG v. Facebook Ireland Ltd and Joseph McCloskey ([2015] NIQB 11) a convicted sex offender was awarded £20,000 for misuse of private information and harassment claims brought in respect of a Facebook page designed to identify and track the whereabouts of sex offenders. An injunction was granted against Facebook. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Category: Northern Ireland (Page 4 of 7)
The Northern Ireland Law Commission is currently consulting on reforms to defamation law [pdf]. Many mooted reforms relate closely to those reflected in the Defamation Act 2013 (see Part 1). In addition, the NILC is consulting on the desirability of a further reform option. This would comprise two inter-related changes: first, the withdrawal of the “single meaning rule”, and secondly, the introduction of a bar to the bringing of claims where a publisher has corrected or retracted a possible meaning promptly and prominently. Continue reading
While the Defamation Bill progressed through Parliament, neither the Scottish Parliament nor the Northern Ireland Assembly passed a consent motion to extend the legislation to those jurisdictions in full (the former did adopt sections 6 and 7 of the Act). Last week, the Scottish Law Commission announced that defamation would comprise one element of its ninth programme of law reform. The NI Law Commission has published a study of the law and is currently consulting on possible reforms [pdf]. The consultation closes on 20 February 2015. Continue reading
In the period 1 January to 31 October 2014 there were a total of 20 libel claims issued in Northern Ireland. This suggests an annual total of around 26 claims and is a small decrease from the 30 claims in 2013, and the 32 in 2012. Continue reading
In the case of Loughran v Century Newspapers ([2014] NICA 26) the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal considered a case in which a newspaper relied on the Curistan principle in relation to statutory qualified privilege and decided that a pleaded case of malice was not fit to go to the jury. Continue reading
During the course of what has been an intense, and often vitriolic, debate in the House of Lords on the decision not to implement the Defamation Act 2013 in Northern Ireland, the failure to even mention the similar stance taken by Scotland is somewhat bewildering. Continue reading
Court records show that the number of libel cases issued in Northern Ireland in 2013 remains at a similar level to 2011 and 2012. The total of all claims, in the High Court and the County Court, was 32 in 2012 and 30 in 2013. Continue reading
The Courts in Northern Ireland heard a wide range of media law cases in 2013. In this post I will provide summaries of the most important cases in which judgments were given and are publicly available. Continue reading
With the coming into force of the new Defamation Act on 1 January 2014 it remains to be seen whether the Government has scored an economic own goal in relation to the requirement that a company will have to establish “serious financial loss” in order to be entitled to protect the reputational integrity of a brand or product. Continue reading
In the case of J19 and J20 v Facebook Ireland ([2013] NIQB 113) the High Court in Northern Ireland chose to depart from the “robust” Strasbourg approach to service providers and their liability for comments hosted on their sites. Such liability, said the judge, was not consonant with the EC Directive on E-Commerce. Continue reading
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