{"id":1667,"date":"2024-11-21T14:29:06","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T14:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tim-dawson.com\/?p=1667"},"modified":"2024-11-21T14:29:07","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T14:29:07","slug":"slapps-conference-tickles-up-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tim-dawson.com\/?p=1667","title":{"rendered":"Slapps conference tickles up hope"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Index on Censorship’s event in Dublin, Ireland, brought together lawyers, journalists and victims of legal bullying to discuss the implementation of the EU’s Anti-SLAPP directive, deformation law reform in Ireland and the campaign to free journalists from judicial interference.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malachi O\u2019Doherty is an improbable poster boy. Diminutive, bearded and in his mid-seventies, the veteran Northern Irish journalist\u2019s resistance of a politician\u2019s legal bullying won him acclaim anew. Finding for O\u2019Doherty, a judge determined that the claim against him was: \u201cscandalous, frivolous and vexatious\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a landmark ruling that has immediate beneficial implications for several similar ongoing cases. Among the community of activists across the Europe who campaign against SLAPPs (strategic lawsuits to prevent public participation) his victory sparked celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O\u2019Doherty, and his lawyer, were star attractions at Index On Censorship\u2019s Anti SLAPP 2024 conference, held at the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin. The event heard from victims of legal bullying, lawyers, politicians, and campaigners. And welcome though the Northern Irish victory is, significant reform is clearly required if journalists are to be less often gagged by the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who pulled the trigger?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

O\u2019Doherty\u2019s case arose from two radio interviews. In both, he suggested that Gerry Kelly, a Sinn F\u00e9in member of the Northern Irish Assembly, had shot a prison officer in the head during a mass break out from the Maze prison in 1983. This was not the controversial claim it sounds. Kelly is widely known to have been a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, during \u2018the troubles\u2019 and served prison sentences for setting bombs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelly himself has written candid books about his early life. He kept shtoom, however, about whether he or another IRA prisoner actually pulled the trigger on the prison guard. The victim, who survived the bullet, has long maintained that Kelly wielded the gun. When Kelly challenged O\u2019Doherty in court, the judge found that whoever actually discharged the firearm, Kelly was a \u2018joint tortfeasor\u2019 \u2013 which is to say was at very least jointly responsible for the shooting. On this basis, the republican\u2019s case against the journalist was dismissed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bobbie-Leigh Herdman represented O\u2019Doherty in in court. She told the conference: \u201cthe proceedings were clearly not a genuine attempt to pursue litigation but a SLAPP \u2013 an attempt to silence, brought for an improper basis. The judge awarded costs against Kelly, so the case has created a pause for anyone else thinking of acting in this way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Encouraging as the judgement is, O\u2019Doherty spoke of the strain he faced. \u201cThe action was against me personally, not the radio stations, so I had to ask my wife if she was happy that we risked our home to defend what I said \u2013 that\u2019s a big ask\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ireland promises reform<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately there has, in recent years, been a growing tide of opposition to SLAPPs. Helen McEntee, currently the Republic of Ireland\u2019s Minister for Justice, told the conference: \u201cDealing with SLAPPSs is a priority for the Government. We have a Defamation Amendment Bill at the second stage, and we want legislation to allow for the early identification of SLAPPs.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An imminent election in Ireland makes it is unclear who will be delivering this agenda six months hence. Whether legislative proposals will effectively deal with the issue remains to be seen.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Sunday Independent journalist Mark Tiegh<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In the meantime, there were plenty of examples of legal devices designed to suppress legitimate stories. Mark Tighe, for example, a reporter with Ireland\u2019s Sunday Independent, described breaking the story of a prominent Irish comedian accused of sexually assaulted a teenager. As Tighe prepared for publication, the comedian\u2019t lawyer threatened an injunction and a defamation claim. \u201cIf you get a story like that wrong, you are talking about \u20ac2 million in the courts \u2013 but of course the legal actions never happened,\u201d said Tighe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every publication \u2013 a calculated risk<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Conor Graham, who runs the Merion Press in County Kildare, described finding legal letters on his doorstep with numbing regularity. \u201cIt is a huge challenge to me and my company and causes great stress\u201d, he said. \u201cI have tried to get insurance, and can\u2019t, I can\u2019t afford a full legal reading of every 100,000 word manuscript. We fly by the seat of our pants \u2013 every publication is a calculated risk\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such challenges should become fewer in coming years as a result of the Anti SLAPPs Directive recently adopted by the European Union. It requires member states to adopt laws allowing for the early dismissal of SLAPPs, awarding of costs against those who perpetrate legal harassment, as well as penalties for egregious offenders. EU member states must have laws in place by May 2026. Several speakers at the conference worried, however, that Ireland might not meet this deadline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maltese vindication sparked EU initiative<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"
Francesca Farrington from Aberdeen University<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Francesca Farrington, a member of the Anti-SLAPP research hub at Aberdeen University, traced the impulse for the Directive to the 2017 murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. A relentless chronicler of corruption, at the time of Caruana Galicia\u2019s death, she faced 47 outstanding legal cases.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDaphne was posthumously vindicated when the bank she was investigating was closed down and its chairman arrested on money laundering charges\u201d, said Farrington. \u201cHer death sparked a movement within the EU to deal with the issue \u2013 although the Commission had to be persuaded that it had the competence, and could create a Directive adaptable to very different legal frameworks\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dead letter warning<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Associate professor of law at Trinity College Dublin, Eoin O\u2019Dell was pessimistic about the prospects of legal revision in Ireland. Speaking about the putative reform of defamation law, he warned that \u201cimplementation is likely to be so partial that it will be a legislative dead letter\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same is potentially true of much of the EU\u2019s promised Anti SLAPP laws. Scrutinising implementation of the directive will require much time and effort across member states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly for O\u2019Doherty, in Northern Ireland (with the rest of the UK now outside the EU), this Directive will be no help. But perhaps his case demonstrates something else? Campaigning to tip the law to inhibit SLAPPs is vital. Whatever ends up on Europe\u2019s statute books, however, the bravery, tenacity, and determination demonstrated by O\u2019Doherty is always likely required by journalists bringing important stories to light. As an exemplar of those qualities, his case deserves its moment in the sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tim Dawson is the deputy general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a set of pictures of the event here https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/73968455@N06\/albums\/72177720321595216\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Index on Censorship’s event in Dublin, Ireland, brought together lawyers, journalists and victims of legal bullying to discuss the implementation of the EU’s Anti-SLAPP directive, deformation law reform in Ireland and the campaign to free journalists from judicial interference. Malachi …<\/p>\n

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