Following on from the commitment to defamation reform in the Programme for Government 2025 – Securing Ireland’s Future, the Government’s Spring 2025 Legislation Programme places the enactment of the Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024 (the “Bill”) firmly back on the legislative agenda.

The Bill, originally published in August 2024, had lapsed following the dissolution of the previous government in November 2024. The Bill has now been restored to the Dáil Order Paper at Committee Stage, from where it will progress through the Oireachtas.

It remains to be seen whether the Bill will be subject to additional amendments on its path to enactment.  As outlined in our previous briefing, Defamation Reform in Ireland: The Jury Remains Out, when the Bill was originally published the Department of Justice press release noted that several additional key reforms were still being finalised and would be brought in as amendments during the Bill’s passage through the Oireachtas. These included:

• a clearer and simpler defence of fair and reasonable publication in the public interest;
• a statutory power for the Circuit Court to issue a ‘Norwich Pharmacal’ order, directing a digital services provider to identify an anonymous poster of defamatory online material. Currently, these orders can only be sought in the High Court; and
• a power for the courts to award damages for harm suffered by a person targeted by SLAPPs.

As things stand, it is not yet clear whether these additional reforms will be incorporated into the Bill as it passes through the Oireachtas.

What does appear to be clear is that the government intends to proceed with the proposed abolition of juries, with the Minister for Justice signalling the Government’s intention to do so in a response to a Parliamentary Question.

We will continue to monitor developments, and particularly any amendments, as the Bill makes its way through the Oireachtas.

If you would like to discuss any of the matters covered in this briefing, please get in touch with any member of our Litigation, Dispute Resolution, and Investigations Group.