Republic of Ireland will make it harder to bring libel actions - amid accusations that Sinn Fein uses the courts to silence criticism

The Tanaiste Micheal Martin has asked Irish opposition politicians to co-operate with the government in the autumn to pass their proposals to reform defamation laws south of the border.

Free speech campaigners and newspaper representatives including the News Letter say that the laws have a chilling effect on open expression, helping to silence scientists and critics and commentators. Most UK newspapers publish in the Republic of Ireland too.

Defending libel cases south of the border can be hugely expensive, as it can be in Northern Ireland. The province, however, in 2022 enacted a modest reform of its own defamation laws amid fears that the threat of libel actions stifled legitimate criticism of individuals and organisations – libel law reforms that were largely opposed by both Sinn Fein and the DUP.

The propensity of Irish republicans to take legal actions has been in the spotlight recently, including a string of contentious or failed libel cases on both sides of the border.

Gerry Kelly of Sinn Fein failed in his bid to sue the commentators Malachi O’Doherty and Ruth Dudley Edwards (who writes a weekly column for this newspaper) claiming that an allegation that he shot a prison guard in the head was defamatory – a claim that a Belfast judge dismissed.

Michelle O'Neill failed in libel bid in Northern Ireland against a DUP politician who said she should be “put back in her kennel”, and the party activist Liam Lappin's failed in libel bid against the Belfast Telegraph.

Mr Martin, the Republic’s Foreign Affairs Minister said the Defamation (Amendment) Bill marked "major progress" and was the "blueprint for futureproofing our defamation laws".

Asked if he had concerns that some members of the Irish opposition who have been accused of using strategic lawsuits may not vote for the reforms, Mr Martin said: "I hope they would reflect on that."

Among the key provisions in the bill highlighted by government are the abolition of juries in High Court defamation actions, which is hoped to reduce delays and legal costs; and of protections against strategic lawsuits, also known as Slapps actions, viewed as having a chilling effect on public interest journalism and press freedom.

"We can't guarantee anything in terms of human behaviour, or tactics or strategy that people may engage in, but certainly this tips the balance, I would argue in terms of the Slapp dimension, this tips the balance back in favour of the media," he said.

The draft laws also include a statutory power for the Circuit Court to issue a 'Norwich Pharmacal' order, allowing a digital services provider to identify an anonymous poster of defamatory statements online.

"I've been subjected to such online advertisements and so on, and it did strike me as far more challenging for individual citizens to seek the identity of such online defamers. That ongoing work in this bill is very welcome in that regard," Mr Martin said.

Ireland’s Justice Minister Helen McEntee said the changes would reduce legal costs and delays, and that it "strikes the right balance" between giving people a chance to protect their name and freedom of expression.

"We must protect responsible investigative journalism from abuse of litigation by companies, by organisations, by individuals, and by political parties who try to create a chilling effect by silencing the media."

She said there were several reasons why they did not include a 'minimum harm' threshold in the bill, which would have seen people prove that a certain amount of harm was done before being granted permission to take a legal case. She said legal advice was sought from the attorney general and externally.

"What we've seen in the UK is that it has in a lot of instances resulted in significant delays and increased costs for pre-trial hearings, where a person is trying to set out the serious harm that has been caused."

The bill would also introduce a new statutory defence in 'retail defamation' cases, responding to concerns about a large recent increase in claims of defamation made against businesses who ask a person to produce a receipt.

The bill is to be published on the Houses of the Oireachtas website next week.

Ms McEntee said that the intention is for the Bill to come before the houses of the Oireachtas in September for the next Dail term.