Northern Ireland Anonymity Orders – Partial Victory for the Press – Helen Gilmore

Media groups in Northern Ireland have welcomed two recent High Court decisions relating to an application by a newspaper to set aside an anonymity order.  The application was brought by Sunday Newspapers Limited to review and to set aside an anonymity order initially granted in 2008 to the present respondent who was known as JR20 in respect of an application for leave to apply for Judicial Review.

News: Attorney General for Northern Ireland v Peter Hain MP – The obscure offence of “scandalising the court” – Edward Craven

Scathing attacks upon the judiciary are not uncommon. Contempt proceedings against the authors of such attacks are far less frequent. In a remarkable recent development, the Attorney General for Northern Ireland has been granted leave to prosecute Peter Hain MP for the arcane offence of “scandalising the court”. The move has important implications for free speech in relation to court proceedings and judicial matters. It also raises sensitive issues about the relationship between the judiciary, politicians and the press – a relationship currently under intense scrutiny in Parliament and at the Leveson Inquiry.

Case Law: McGaughey v Sunday Newspapers Limited – Northern Ireland, privacy and damages

Johnny Adair

On Friday 16 September 2011, the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland (Morgan LCJ, Higgins LJ and Sir John Sheil) handed down judgment in the privacy claim of McGaughey v Sunday Newspapers Ltd. The narrow issue on the appeal was whether or not the action should be remitted to the County Court. McCloskey J had made an order remitting the case and the Court of Appeal upheld his decision ([2010] NICh 7).  But the case is of more general interest because the order was made on the basis of an assessment of the highest award of likely damages for misuse of private information.

Case Law: Robinson v Sunday World – private hearings and social media

The issue as to whether and to what hearings in in privacy cases should be held in private has been the subject of considerable discussion in the English Courts. The point was considered by the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland in the recent case of Robinson v Sunday Newspapers [2011] NICA 13. The Court took into account concerns about publications on social networking sites when decided to overturn the first instance judge and to order that the hearing take place in private.

Case Law: King v Sunday Newspapers, Northern Ireland privacy appeal partially successful

On 15 October 2010 we discussed the first instance judgment of Mr Justice Weatherup in the case of King v Sunday Newspapers Ltd arising out of the publication of some 29 articles in the “Sunday World” newspaper.   The privacy claim was partially successful but the harassment claim failed.  

Case Law: O’Rawe v William Trimble Ltd, Northern Ireland – Olivia O’Kane

In a previous post I referred to Northern Irish interlocutory judgement in the case of Bridget O’Rawe and William Trimble Limited ([2010] NIQB 124).  The trial of the action has now taken place and the trial judgment has been delivered ([2010] NIQB 135). There is a BBC News report of the judgment.  This is one of the few libel cases to go to trial in recent times in Northern Ireland and the judgement is not only extremely detailed but provides long awaited clarification from the bench in relation to qualified privilege and particularisation of pleadings.

Libel Actions in Northern Ireland in 2010 – Olivia O’Kane

In a previous post I discussed defamation law in Northern Ireland.   I have now obtained the figures concerning the numbers of defamation cases issued in Northern Ireland in 2010.   There were 43 libel claims, of which 25 were brought against broadcast or print media defendants.   The population of Northern Ireland is about 1.8 million.  This means that, in 2010, there was one libel claim for each 42,000 people in the province. 

Defamation in Northern Ireland – Olivia O’Kane

The substantive law of defamation in Northern Ireland is, in all relevant respects identical to that in England and Wales.   The most important difference between the jurisdictions concerns funding.  The law in Northern Ireland does not permit the use of conditional fee arrangements or the recovery of after the event insurance premiums.  This means that the number of defamation actions has remained relatively low and cases are predominantly brought against newspapers and broadcasters.

Case Law: Lee, Morrison and X v News Group: Van Morrison Privacy Injunction

Earlier this month we posted about a privacy injunction obtained by the singer Van Morrison against the News of the World.   Mr Justice Gillen’s judgment in the case of Lee, Morrison and X v News Group Newspapers ([2010] NIQB 106) has now been made public.   It appears that this is the full judgment – although reference is made to a “confidential annexe containing the proposed article along with 12 photographs.  The plaintiffs were Gigi Lee, who described herself as a “business lady”, Van Morrison and “X”, Ms Lee’s child.

Case Law: King v Sunday World, Northern Ireland privacy and harassment claim

We have now been provided with a copy of the judgment of Mr Justice Weatherup in the case of King v Sunday World.  We discussed the news reports of this case last month.   The claim was under Article 2 of the Convention, for misuse of private information and harassment by a newspaper.