Patricia Stephenson (Social Democrats)

Yes. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Defamation (Amendment) Bill. The Bill is both necessary and overdue and I welcome steps being taken to modernise our defamation laws and rebalance the rights of freedom of expression and the right to a good name and to respond to the rapidly evolving digital environment. However, while I welcome elements of the Bill, it is a missed opportunity in some key respects, particularly in how it protects or fails to protect democratic speech and public interest journalism.I will start with the positives. The provisions to deter strategic lawsuits against public participation, SLAPPs, are a step forward. We know these cases are not about reputation. Often they are about power. They are not brought with the intention of winning but to intimidate and silence. The mechanisms proposed, namely, the early dismissal of unfounded claims, cost protection and declarations of abuse, are welcome and they follow a growing recognition throughout Europe that legal systems must not be weaponised against journalists, activists, human rights defenders or whistleblowers.

The simplified public interest defence, that of fair and reasonable publication, is another positive measure which provides some clarity and protection to responsible reporting. The provisions for correcting online defamation are, in principle, appropriate responses to the new, modern information environment in which we find ourselves. However, there are three areas where I feel the Bill in its current form falls short, and where I believe we need to push for amendments. I will certainly table amendments on the next Stage of the Bill. While this Bill gestures towards the EU anti-SLAPP directive, it does not go far enough. The Minister said there will be other measures put in place later to address that. Perhaps we could put those in this Bill as well.

The Bill limits protection on defamation cases alone. SLAPPs occur under many different legal headings, not just in relation to defamation but also under privacy, data protection and misuse of process. SLAPPs are having a chilling effect on communities. They are preventing local communities and small organisations from expressing their concerns on matters where there is a clear public interest. This is happening. Perhaps the Minister and I can speak separately about specific cases where this is happening in Ireland. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties, ICCL, has been clear that this Bill must be amended so that it fully transposes the EU directive. If we fail to do so now, we risk failing to meet our obligations by the deadline and, more importantly, we are failing the people who need protection today, when it comes to SLAPPs.

Second, the abolition of juries in court defamation trials raises serious concerns. The arguments of delays and inconsistency have been dealt with in the Higgins case where the Supreme Court laid out clear guidance on how juries should operate in defamation trials. I do not believe the idea that this is a problem is true in actual fact. We have heard from the former High Court judge Bernard Barton. He has spoken about the dangers of removing juries from cases. We must ensure that we listen to someone with that experience and from that position. The Minister previously supported keeping jury trials, only last year, but now we have a different perspective. I apologise if he did so in his opening statement but maybe the Minister could provide clarity on where that change came from.

This Bill is something of a halfway house. It proposes some important changes. However, I do not believe it goes far enough. It does not provide the full defence that our democracy needs against legal intimidation. If we believe in protecting the right to a good name, we must also believe in protecting the right to freedom of speech to hold the powerful to account and be able to speak truth without the risk of financial ruin. We must protect the right to transparency and accountability and the freedom of the media. Journalists and activists must be protected from the chilling effects that we see with SLAPPs. That is occurring in Ireland but we know it is also occurring all around the world. In particular, we are seeing a huge increase in SLAPPs in the past decade in Europe. I support some aspects of the Bill but I believe amendments will be needed on Committee Stage. I will bring amendments forward and I look forward to discussing them with the Minister.