As reported by the Newspaper Society: In a debate last week, Lords attacked the Executive’s decision not to adopt the Defamation Act 2013 and warned of “censorship by the back door” which could force local and national newspaper publishers to withdraw titles from Northern Ireland.
Leading the debate Lord Lexden said he had sought the opinion of leading Northern Ireland lawyer Paul McDonnell who had described the refusal of the Executive to extend the Act’s remit to Northern Ireland as “quite simply unjustifiable” following a study of the legal implications of the decision.
Lord Lexden said: “Investigations in the public interest which concern well-funded organisations will effectively be subject to, as regional publications will be unable to report on matters for fear of court action in this libel-friendly, free speech limiting UK outpost.”
“We must surely send to the Executive, who we all support, through this debate and by other means, a message encouraging them to put the Defamation Act on their agenda and consider it fully.”
Lord Black of Brentwood, executive director of the Telegraph Media Group, warned of the particular dangers for local newspapers of the decision not to adopt the legislation and said it showed no understanding of social and technological changes affecting the distribution of news.
He added: “It plays into the hands of those who seek to bully journalists and editors, particularly on local newspapers, where the realities of business mean that once lawyers are engaged for someone under scrutiny it is prudent to either drop an investigation or produce a sanitised report.
“That breeds poor government, bureaucratic cover-ups and, at worst, corruption,” he added.
Lord Black also warned of the consequences for media plurality in Northern Ireland if publishers in other parts of the UK were forced to withdraw titles from sale because of its different laws. He said that the UK Government could potentially be forced to legislate to protect companies from rulings “that impinge on freedom of expression” in Northern Ireland courts.
Lord Black added: “Belfast might have a short-lived moment in the sun as the libel capital of the world but could find itself isolated internationally as Governments move to protect businesses from the courts in Northern Ireland. It could become a pariah.”
He concluded: “It will stop investment with the consequent impact on jobs in the Province’s creative economy. It is wrong in every conceivable way. This is a very grave situation. Either the Northern Ireland Assembly must act to reverse the decision or the UK Government must do it for them.”
Lord Lester of Herne Hill said: “What is needed is common sense and a political solution in Northern Ireland. It would be a stain on the reputation of Northern Ireland if it were to replace London as the libel tourist capital by clinging to archaic, unbalanced and uncertain common law, which would be great for the vested interests of wealthy clients and their lawyers in Belfast, but wholly against the public interest.”
Viscount Colville of Culross said Belfast Telegraph editor Mike Gilson had told him failure to adopt the legislation would place Northern Ireland media at “a serious disadvantage compared with the rest of the UK.”
Lord Bew pointed out that the decision “sends out a very negative signal” for academics working at Queen’s University Belfast who would discover they were working in the only region of the United Kingdom where “academic freedom is a matter of indifference.”
