Sign the petition for libel reform in Northern Ireland

Also on the Libel Reform Campaign website here.

Libel Reform Campaign Northern Ireland (EVENT) - I'll see you in court: ten people silenced by our libel laws

This event is happening on December 12 2014. A Friday evening at the Crescent Arts Centre. It starts at 6.30pm and will finish at 8pm. The event is part of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Festival, and is billed as follows:

"Free speech isn't free in Northern Ireland. Thanks to the unreformed law of libel, speaking out in the public interest can land you in court. Join Simon Singh and the Libel Reform Campaign at the Crescent Arts Centre to hear first hand the ten discussions the people of Northern Ireland cannot hear due to the archaic state of the law of libel. While the law in England & Wales was reformed in January this year, in Northern Ireland reform was blocked for reasons that remain unclear, even though the law had been severely criticised by the UN Human Rights Committee. 

In Northern Ireland, under the old unreformed law, the chill on free speech continues. From scientists sued for casting doubt on dubious treatments, to tennis players, oligarchs and quack vitamin pill salesmen who have sued, the Libel Reform Campaign will show you what you are not allowed to hear or read. Science writer Simon Singh will introduce this high-energy event with speeches from writers, journalists, victims of the law and campaigners."

Niamh Hargan - Media Law and Practice at University of Ulster Explained

[Niamh Hargan, a recently qualified solicitor took part in the new curriculum, Media Law and Practice, at the University of Ulster. A joint venture between the University of Ulster and SmithDehn LLP. She shares her experience of the course:]


As recently reported on Media Law Northern Ireland and elsewhere, this month has seen yet more exciting news for our burgeoning local film and television industry.

At a launch party on April 26th, international media and entertainment law firm SmithDehn LLP, together with production company Social Construct Media, announced the intention to establish their key European base in Derry later this year.

Already, though, these innovative twin companies have been making an impact: for the past twelve weeks, they have been teaching a pilot course in Media Law and Practice at the University of Ulster’s Magee campus, with partner and CEO Russell Smith at the helm. Among the 30 students, of which I was one, several had a background in legal studies and/or practice, whilst others brought hands-on

Event - Launch of the Libel Reform Campaign Northern Ireland

The Libel Reform Campaign present a petition with 60,000 signatures to Downing Street in 2012

The immensely successful Libel Reform Campaign is coming to Belfast and Northern Ireland (sign up here):

"On Wednesday 7 May at 10am the Libel Reform Campaign will be bringing together writers, journalists, scientists, academics, human rights advocates and civil society to form a coalition to bring reform of the law of libel to Northern Ireland. 

With the launch of the Northern Ireland Law Commission consultation on libel reform expected in the coming months, a strong coalition will be needed that makes the case for reform of these archaic laws. You can read the campaign's criticisms of the law and the process that led to the new Defamation Act not being applied to Northern Ireland here and here. 

We would very much appreciate your participation in this coalition and your attendance at this event to bring together the coalition. I will be joined by Jo Glanville from English PEN, Sile Lane from Sense About Science and other Libel Reform campaigners. 

The event will be hosted in The Lab at the Belfast MAC (10 Exchange Street West, Belfast BT1 2NJ) from 10am - 12.30pm on 7 May. Plenty of coffee and pastries will be provided."

Sign up and register your attendance here.

Mike Gilson and Mike Nesbitt give evidence before the Finance Committee

Video of Mike Gilson here. Video of Mike Nesbitt here (2hr7m). Text of Mike Gilson here and text of Mike Nesbitt here.

Mick Fealty - Censoring dissent in Northern Ireland with violence and intimidation

Northern Ireland playwright Gary Mitchell was forced into hiding by a loyalist gang

Northern Ireland paramilitaries and gangs are notoriously intolerant of dissent or people who speak out. Mick Fealty said in an article in the Guardian, 'Freedom of speech: a matter of life and death':

"[Sean O'Callaghan speaks of] the burdensome intolerance of dissent which inflects all manner of political and cultural discourse [in Northern Ireland]. In the pre-modern political realities of significant parts of Belfast - expulsion is the preferred option. 

And as [Glenn] Patterson argues, this intolerance cuts across the cultural divide. The consequent loss of the talent represented by the forced departure of playwright Gary Mitchell damages all of Northern Ireland's society. It should serve as a warning to the post modern world beyond his native Rathcoole Estate, of the nasty consequences of the routine compromising of freedom of speech and expression."

Gary Mitchell was forced out of his home in the Belfast suburb of Rathcoole in November 2005. This happened after his house was attacked by loyalist paramilitaries. He also received a death-threat. He and his family are now living in hiding somewhere in Northern Ireland.

Mick Fealty in full here.

Brian Spencer - The DUP's fight against Libel Reform

GRAPHIC on the story of Libel Reform in Northern Ireland (in full here)

[This was originally published on eamonnmallie.com and Off the Record]
(updated below)


Introducing the Defamation Act 2013

On January 1 2014 the Defamation Act 2013 came into effect in England and Wales.

The new law strengthens freedom of expression and gives a warm hand to journalists, writers, academics and scientists. The new law increases the freedom of readers to receive information. The new law strengthens the free speech position of every internet, social media and Twitter user. Olivia O’Kane explains the changes here.

Northern Ireland retains the old law. A law described by the UK as a “national embarrassment” and by the US as “repugnant” to their Constitution. A law slated by Geoffrey Bindman QC in 1994 as “seriously unbalanced and fundamentally flawed”. In fact, the US enacted the SPEECH Act in 2010 whose very purpose was to nullify and negate the chilling effect of our speech law on their US-based journalists.

Robinson and McGuinness tried to block FOI by saying disclosure would cost them votes

Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness argued that they should be allowed to block an FOI request on the the grounds that releasing it could cost the votes. The OFMDFM is one of only four UK institutions tabbed by the Information Commission because of its poor record in complying with the Freedom of Information Act. The Information Commissioner, the watchdog which enforces the open government law, said: 

"The electoral prospects of individuals are not strictly a relevant factor when weighing the public interest in the disclosure of information."

The attempt to block the FOI procedure came after the News Letter made a response for the department’s ‘risk register’. The Information Commissioner dismissed the claim and ordered OFMDFM to provide the information by May 1 2014.

Mike Harris - "Why is free speech not good enough for Northern Ireland?"

Writing in the Huffington Post here, Mike Harris (@mjrharris) has called the DUP's decision to veto libel reform an outrageous decision. He began by explaining the campaign for libel reform in England and Wales:

"It took endless humiliation before parliament got the message and decided to reform the law of libel: the UN Human Rights Council said our libel law chilled free speech across the entire globe, American academics faced our courts for writing about the funding of Al Qaeda, Barack Obama signed into law an act to protect Americans from our libel law and decent scientists such as Simon Singh Ben Goldacre and NHS cardiologist Pete Wilsmhurst faced ruin thanks to the law.

Ruth Dudley Edwards - Council "censored" report on violence

Ruth Dudley Edwards (@RuthDE) has accused Fermanagh district council of censorship. This comes after they forced the removal of her reporting that there had been violence associated with the Orange Order. She said:

"What happened happened and there is no hope for Northern Ireland if the past is airbrushed out because it doesn’t suit politicians or public officials."

Previously looked at Ed Moloney who said censorship extended Troubles by up to 15 years. Mick Fealty also noted that "journalists were sometimes told to hold back on a story in case they might do damage to the delicate administration." Read more in the Impartial Reporter here. 

Olivia O'Kane - Number of Defamation claims in 2013 in Northern Ireland stabilise

	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Cases Received	55	46	54	31	31	27
Non-Court Disposals	20	196	55	17	6	10
Found for Plaintiff	ND	1	4	ND	3	2
Found for Defendant	1	ND	ND	ND	-	-
Damages	ND	£75,000	£57,001	£31,001	£112,505	£68,000

Table 1: High Court Libel Proceedings

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.

Of the total of 64 claims issued in 2012 and 2013, 37 were claims against broadcast or print media defendants. There were 3 trials in 2012 and 2 in 2013. All of them were determined in favour of the plaintiffs.

The aggregate damages awarded in all defamation cases in 2012 was £112.505 – with the largest award being £80,000 in the case of Declan Gormley v Sinn Fein. In 2013, the aggregate damages awarded were £68,000 (2 judgments and one announced settlement).This is an updated version of the table from my 2012 post on Northern Ireland defamation cases.

Table 2: County Court Libel/Slander proceedings

	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Cases Received	-	3	1	1	1	3
Court Disposals	1	-	3	1	1	1
Found for Plaintiff	-	-	1	-	-	-
Found for Respondent	1	-	2	1	-	-
Damages	ND	-	£1,000	ND	-	-

Notes:

Data for 2013 should be treated as provisional

ND denotes NOT DISCLOSED

A case may not necessarily be dealt with in the same calendar year as it is received.

Olivia O’Kane is specialist media lawyer at Belfast solicitors Carson McDowell

Northern Ireland Journalists told to hold back in name of peace process

Mick Fealty recently made two observations about Northern Ireland journalism.

One, he suggested that journalists are encumbered to and bound by the wishes of the media outlet's owner. He said:

“Rocking the boat”, I suspect, was never that big on the journalist’s agenda, particularly if not exactly to the proprietor’s taste. In any case, rocking it has more often been a case of cumulative work rather than going for it in one steady hit.

Two, he also suggested that journalists in Northern Ireland suffer from conformity and convention:

"Too many journalists still hunt in packs and so end up producing what Hugo Dixon calls ‘Me Too’ journalism. In the close confines of Northern Ireland this can lead to political pressures to conform (by not asking stupid questions) for the sake of our increasingly geriatric Peace Process™."

Mick Fealty had previously looked at the concentrated pressure for journalists to conform. He quoted an Irish Times report:  

"In [Northern Ireland] journalists were sometimes told to hold back on a story in case they might do damage to the delicate administration. While this was not a point to ignore, you couldn’t make exceptions."

But Mick Fealty has said how Northern Ireland journalists should operate:

"I’ve no doubt of the contribution, but the “well-behaved witness” now needs to start asking “stupid” questions. Otherwise false, or partial, narratives will go unchallenged as those witnesses continue to ignore “the bits that do not suit particular prejudices”. And when “agreed truth becomes accepted, the real truth becomes a lie”."

Mike Harris - House of Lords sends a clear message to Stormont: reform of the libel law is overdue

Last Tuesday, Lord Lexden alongside Lord Bew and Lord Black tabled an amendment to the Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill to extend the Defamation Act 2013 to Northern Ireland. Seeing the impact on freedom of expression and the opaque manner in which this issue has been handled, respected parliamentarians spoke up for the amendment. The government refused to accept the motion and it was not put to the vote, but the debate itself had the desired impact. The amendment was a direct challenge to the DUP who feel that they alone can decide on libel reform for Northern Ireland.

It remains the case that very few know why the Defamation Bill does not apply to Northern Ireland, an outrageous decision that has created a gaping loophole in the government's attempts to reform the UK's libel laws. As I noted in the Huffington Post, the humiliating rebuke by the United Nations Human Rights Council to the previous state of the libel law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland led to:

“the three major political parties to make a commitment to libel reform in their general election manifestos in 2010. They didn't qualify this bold commitment with "except in Northern Ireland". Why would they? The law in Northern Ireland has always been substantially the same as the law in England and Wales, that is until the government reformed it. At no point in the parliamentary debate did the government signal the Defamation Bill would not apply to the citizens of Northern Ireland.”

Paul McDonnell - Northern Ireland is a libel-friendly, free-speech limiting outpost

Northern Ireland media lawyer Paul McDonnell (@_PaulMcDonnell_) of McKinty and Wright was cited by Lord Lexden in a House of Lords debate. Lord Lexden read out his submission in full:

"The refusal of the Northern Ireland executive to extend to Northern Ireland the remit of the Defamation Act and the legal clarity and free speech protection it brings, is quite simply unjustifiable. Why should the citizens and journalists of Northern Ireland not be afforded the same protection of those in the rest of the United Kingdom, whether they are expressing opinions online or holding government to account. Why as the rest of the United Kingdom embraces the digital revolution, should Northern Ireland be confined by our archaic and unfocused freedom of expression laws? 

Blindfolding the public on libel reform

This is the problem we see time and time again: lawyers gag journalists, and in doing so they blind the general public.

Excellent stuff by @SLSingh: "Libel laws don’t just gag me, they blindfold you" in The Sunday Times today http://bit.ly/441sZm #SinghBCA
— Free Debate (@freedebate) October 18, 2009

We reported on the Sunday Politics NI debate here. The segment presented both the assenting and dissenting views on the matter of libel reform in Northern Ireland, (from Lord Bew and Paul Tweed respectively). We covered both sides of the debate and gave a full and equal airing to Lord Bew and Paul Tweed. However in the video above and here, Paul Tweed has decided to edit out those people who support libel reform and oppose his view. He has decided to presented an entirely one sided view.

This is a matter for concern. The public can view the Sunday Politics NI debate for only 7 days after the initial broadcast. Thereafter it will be removed from the public domain. The Paul Tweed edited version is on YouTube and will remain there until the day he decides to remove it. By this avenue of debate the public has been blindfolded.

He has given his airing to the public, but in doing so has screened out those voices that don't suit his agenda. Is that right? We support free speech and advocate that all voices be heard.

Paul's video coverage here. Our coverage here.

The "blizzard", "confetti", "volume" and "bombardment" of vexatious libel writs against Northern Ireland journalists

Northern Ireland journalists have repeatedly referred to the journalistic climate of libel intimidation in Northern Ireland.

• Mike Gilson has worked across the British Isles and has said that Northern Ireland sees far more "vexatious claims". 
• Sam McBride has spoken of the "volume" of libel writs. 
• Anthony McIntyre has said that letters are sent like "confetti". 
• Newton Emerson has spoken of a "blizzard" of writs. 
• BBC producer and peer Viscount Colville of Culross said that journalists had been "bombarded with daily, sometimes hourly, threats of defamation." 
• Lord Lester of Herne Hill explained how a journalist who he represented sued by the Irish News for £25,000 found the "experience was so traumatic that she gave up her profession as a journalist." 
• Ruth Dudley Edwards spoke of "the DUP’s enthusiasm for restrictive libel laws."
• Mick Fealty said: "I can think of more than one Northern Irish politician that’s none to slow to pull the legal trigger when the occasion arises." 
• Mick Fealty also said: "Who needs to visit Pyongyang when we can have Pyongyang here?" 
• More worryingly, Mick Fealty reported that NI politicians now enjoy commercial indemnity, meaning "our MLAs want to be able to sue our ass. But be allowed lie with impunity." 
• Eamonn Mallie has said "I'll see you in court" is the DUP's new "war cry". 
• Journalist Patrick Kane (@patrick_kane_) said that the libel law system has been "exploited by many, and gagged even more."
• Former journalist Mike Nesbitt explained all libel actions he encountered involved the DUP (see here).

And here's the main issue and concern, as Mike Nesbitt said:

"The point is the laws are regularly utilised behind the scenes to try to influence, warn off, possibly even threaten."

And here:

"Many members of [the media] tell me they face regular threats of legal action for defamation from a particular local political party.

Lord Lester - "I can’t think of any good reason to do that, unless it’s because politicians in Northern Ireland want to be able to sue newspapers more readily"

As Lord Lexden pointed out in the House of Lords debate of February 25 2014, "it was only through the persistence of journalists that it emerged that a single minister had rejected the Defamation Act 2013." That minister being former finance minister Sammy Wilson who opted out of using the 'legislative consent motion' which would have implemented the law. More can be read of this on the News Letter here and here. Also covered on Slugger O'Toole here and here.

Lord Lester - who tabled the libel law reform three years ago with a private member’s bill won cross-party support and was adopted by the Government - said:

"I can’t think of any good reason to do that, unless it’s because politicians in Northern Ireland want to be able to sue newspapers more readily, which doesn’t seem to me to be a very good reason."

The infamous Irish News libellous restaurant review here. Article by the Newspaper Society, 'Lords Warn Northern Ireland Faces 'Pariah' Status After Executive's Defamation Act Refusal', here.

Peers debate libel reform in Northern Ireland

As we reported here, today (February 25 2014) peers in the House of Lords considered libel reform in Northern Ireland by virtue of an amendment brought to the Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill by Lord Lexden in committee.

 

David Pannick QC reiterated the bad smell coming from Northern Ireland. Lord Bew reiterated the intolerable problems facing the Northern Ireland judiciary by way of the old libel regime. 

 

Lord Empey made an important observation:

Lord Lexden - Libel veto a "story of evasion and irresponsible delay"

Tory peer Lord Lexden has criticised the Northern Ireland Executive for its failure to implement libel law, calling events a "story of evasion and irresponsible delay". Lord Lexden said that the Defamation Act 2013 represented a "liberalising, modernising law, which will confer lasting benefits throughout society."

He told a committee stage debate on the Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill it was "wholly unjustifiable that the people of Northern Ireland should be excluded from the benefits and protections" of this law. He said that the province's exclusion from the Defamation Act 2013 put thousands of publishing jobs at risk and warned that a "dual system" of defamation law would create "doubt and confusion" in an area where clarity was essential. The committee stage was completed.

Read in full here.

Olivia O’Kane - Northern Ireland Media Law Round Up 2013

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.

The innocent court reporter

The case of ZY v. Paul Higgins ([2013] NIQB 8) was heard on 25 January 2013. It concerned the Article 2 rights of a convicted child sex offender seeking anonymity to continue after conviction in order to safeguard his wellbeing from risk of suicide within the confines of Prison when it appeared a journalist was to write a piece to distributed to the mainstream media.

On 2 September 2011 ZY, a male in his 20s, was arrested and charged with attempting to blackmail a female in relation to an indecent video recording made when she was 15 years of age; engaging in sexual activity with a minor; and possessing indecent images of children. On 7 December 2012 ZY pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 21 months imprisonment. Following sentencing, representations were made on behalf of the first defendant journalist, Paul Higgins, seeking revocation of the anonymity order which had been made at the first remand hearing.