THERE WAS a danger that the Press Council could inadvertently be undermined by an amendment to the Defamation Bill, according to the Labour Party’s spokesman on justice.
Pat Rabbitte said the way in which an amendment was drafted, where a publication that was not a member of the Press Council could gain credit for observing the principles of the Press Council, would tend to undermine those publications that were members.
Speaking at a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice on Wednesday, he asked: “Why should non-members benefit from its standards if they are not pulling their weight?”
The section under discussion was that dealing with defences to a claim of libel, allowing for the publication of an item written in good faith, in the course of the discussion of a subject of public interest, for the public benefit.
According to the original Bill, among the issues to be taken into account when the court would decide whether the publication was “fair and reasonable” was whether it had adhered to the Code of Standards of the Press Council, and whether the publisher abided by determinations of the Press Council and Press Ombudsman.
An amendment proposed by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said that, where a publisher was not a member of the Press Council, and he or she adhered to standards equivalent to those of the Press Council, the court could take this into account.
In response to Mr Rabbitte, who argued that this could inadvertently undermine the Press Council by giving a benefit to non-members, he said the legislation was trying to be fair to everyone. He said he would look at many of the issues raised when the Bill came to its fourth stage.
The Minister also proposed an amendment providing for a review of the legislation after five years. Charlie Flanagan, Fine Gael spokesman on justice, asked that a time limit be placed on the completion of such a review. Mr Ahern said he would come to that at the next stage.
All but the last parts of the Bill, dealing with blasphemous libel and miscellaneous items, were passed as amended.