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New report calls for action to combat ‘libel tourism’

Reforms to bring Northern Ireland’s libel laws into line with those of England and Wales could now go ahead after the publication of a new report.

The Regional Assembly at Stormont, pictured below, previously opted out when the Westminster government introduced the Defamation Act 2013.

But now a new report commissioned by the Democratic Unionist Party, which led the initial opt-out, has called for Northern Ireland’s libel laws to be brought into line.

The decision to join England and Wales had created the potential for ‘libel tourism’, where people who believed they had been defamed would seek to have the cases heard in the region.

Stormont

The reformed law in England and Wales introduced a new threshold meaning claimants have to show they have suffered “serious harm” before suing.

It also gives greater protection to people running websites if they can prove they did not write libellous posts.

Stormont Finance Minister Máirtín Ó Muilleoir said: “This will help to inform the policy development process as we seek to ensure that a fair balance is maintained between the right to free speech and the right of the ordinary man and woman in the street, to protect their reputation.”

In Scotland, Glasgow-based daily The Herald began a campaign last December for similar reform in Scotland.