Defamation of a company in the still un-commenced 2009 Act
In the important decision of the House of Lords in Jameel v Wall Street Journal Europe Sprl [2007] 1 AC 359, [2006] UKHL 44 (11 October 2006) the House of Lords by a majority confirmed the traditional common law rule (see South Hetton Coal Company v North Eastern News Association Limited [1894] 1 QB 133) that a trading corporation was entitled to pursue a remedy in a defamation action without being required to allege or prove that the publication complained of had caused it actual damage; it is sufficient for a trading corporation to show that it is likely to be damaged in the way of business. Rossa McMahon has some strong words to say about the retention of the rule as a matter of Irish law by section 12 of the Defamation Act, 2009 (pdf), which provides
…The provisions of this Act apply to a body corporate as they apply to a natural person, and a body corporate may bring a defamation action under this Act in respect of a statement concerning it that it claims is defamatory whether or not it has incurred or is likely to incur financial loss as a result of the publication of that statement.
The letters’ page of the Irish Times as often features well-crafted prose and well-argued cases as it does pithily funny remarks and occasionally insane arguments. In any event, a letter often serves either to remind me of an article I had not properly considered, or to bring to my attention a piece I had simply overlooked at the time. There is a letter in today’s Irish Times which serves the latter function, referring to a piece last week which I had missed:
