The Defamation Act 2009 came into effect on
1 January 2010 and has introduced some significant changes to defamation law in
Ireland. This Act has abolished the distinction
between libel and slander and introduced a new tort of defamation. A defamatory
statement means “a statement that tends to injure a person’s reputation in the
eyes of reasonable members of society”. A limitation period of one year now applies,
meaning that a litigant now has only one year to issue proceedings in respect
of the defamatory act. Previously, the limitation period was 6 years for libel and 3 years for slander. Courts are now empowered to summarily
dispose of a claim pre-trial, and issue Corrective and Prohibition Orders, as
well as Declaratory Orders in the Circuit Court. A defendant can now make a lodgement without
an admission of liability. This means that if the plaintiff is successful in his claim,
but the damages awarded are not more than the sum lodged, the defendant will be
entitled to his costs against the plaintiff from the date of the
lodgement. The jurisdiction of the Circuit Court for
defamation matters has been increased to €50,000. The Act has overhauled the potential defences
available to media organisations, with the most significant changes being the
introduction of the defence of fair and reasonable publication and the offer to
make amends. In order to rely on the defence of fair and reasonable publication,
a newspaper will need to show that it acted in good faith on a matter of public
interest and that the extent of the publication did not exceed what was
necessary. The main defence available to newspapers is that the statement
made was true.
Changes to Defamation Law (May 2010)
