FG suggests major libel law changes

Radical changes to Ireland's libel laws, which would offer greater freedom to journalists in return for better rights for aggrieved members of the public, will be proposed today by Fine Gael.

Under the plan, the media will be asked to set up a voluntary media ombudsman - but this office would afterwards operate independently according to rules laid down by legislation, sources indicated last night.

Media organisations would be encouraged to offer speedy apologies, where necessary, by allowing them to offer corrections and clarifications without admitting legal liability.

Judges would be allowed to offer directions about the size of libel damages that should be awarded during their summing-up to juries, the Fine Gael document suggests, according to sources.

The media are also expected to face a demand that they sign up to a privacy code of conduct, though it is not yet clear if this will be legally enforceable, as proposed in 1998 by the Law Reform Commission.

The proposed shape of the press complaints body marks a halfway house between the Law Reform Commission's proposal for a full statutory body and the media's long-held objection to any State interference.

The issue sparked divisions within- Fine Gael: "Many of our people did not believe that the press should get any more freedom.

In fact, opinion research suggests that the public think the same.

Some of our people wanted to go down the statutory regulation route.

Others, however, believed that there was no way that the media would ever accept that," one source told The Irish Times last night.

The media ombudsman would be able to arbitrate in some cases, as an alternative to legal action, and be able to facilitate "no-fault" settlements, including clarifications and apologies.

It is not clear how the new body would influence the conduct of British newspapers that circulate in the Republic, or of magazines. There were suggestions last night that Fine Gael will urge the National Union of Journalists to give a higher profile to its little-used code of conduct for members.

"The only means of redress currently is the courts. Most people can't afford to go there. Yet legal action by the rich and wealthy is costing the media a fortune," The Irish Times was told.

The measures will be unveiled by the Fine Gael leader, Mr Noonan and the party's deputy leader, Mr Jim Mitchell, who has led a team that has worked on the issue for nearly five months.

The other members of the team are solicitor and Cork South West TD Mr Jim O'Keeffe and Dublin South East TD Ms Frances Fitzgerald.