Ireland faces UN pressure to reform libel laws

Ireland is to come under pressure from two separate United Nations human rights agencies to reform its strict libel laws.

A third attack, by the European Court of Human Rights, could also be looming, according to the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL).

In the first challenge to the Government, a report on Irish defamation law has been forwarded by a special representative of the UN Commission on Human Rights for discussion at its next sitting in Geneva.

The report criticises the high level of damages awarded in libel cases and says the onus of proof in such cases should be shifted from the defendant to the person claiming to have been libelled.

Other recommendations are for an independent press ombudsman and legal protection for journalists' sources.

A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said the report would be circulated to a number of Departments before the Government gave its response at the UN commission sitting, which starts next Monday and runs until April 28th.

This challenge comes ahead of a review by the United Nations Human Rights Committee of Ireland's performance under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The committee has consulted campaigners seeking the reform of Ireland's libel laws.

When it last carried out the review, in 1993, it criticised a number of censorship provisions including Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act, under which certain organisations could be banned from the airwaves.

The Attorney General is to be asked for a progress report when he comes before the committee in July.

Mr Donncha O'Connell, director of the ICCL, said it was increasingly clear that Ireland was out of step with international norms. As well as facing a two-pronged UN attack, he said "it is likely that Ireland will be found in breach of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights in the near future because of the level of awards in libel cases".

Both the ICCL and the National Union of Journalists welcomed the UN special representative's report, which was published this week.

The NUJ's Irish organiser, Mr Seamus Dooley, said the report, if implemented, would lead to "a seismic shift" in defamation law. It was important, he said, that the issue was "put on an international footing" after the Government chose to ignore domestic reports, including one by the Law Reform Commission, calling for a relaxation of the libel laws.