Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) yesterday said it was "delighted" to have won its appeal against the £250,000 libel award to Mr Denis O'Brien but was concerned that a new jury would still not be given guidelines in relation to the level of damages to be paid.
The National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI), the representative body for daily and Sunday newspapers, said it also welcomed the decision and called on the Government to reform the laws governing libel and defamation.
"The latest decision of the Supreme Court is further proof that Ireland's defamation laws are discriminatory, inequitable and wholly archaic," the NNI said in a statement.
Mr Martin Cruddace, head of the legal department at MGN, said the group looked forward to a new jury considering afresh "this disproportionately high" award.
It was of some comfort that the Supreme Court agreed that the original award of £250,000 was excessive, Mr Craddace said. However, it had to be a concern that a new jury would still not be allowed to be given any guidelines whatsoever in determining the new award, he said. Mr Cruddace said the judgment of Ms Justice Denham, who had called the award "so incorrect in principle as to be disproportionate", urged that guidelines should be given to juries. Unless and until the Government urgently gave statutory effect to Ms Justice Denham's call, it would remain extremely vulnerable to an application to the European Court of Human Rights, "an application we have yet to rule out".
The NNI has been campaigning for 16 years for changes in the defamation and libel laws. Last year the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, said a Bill on defamation was in progress and would be ready this year.
The NNI want juries abolished in defamation trials and the limitation period for a libel case to be reduced from six years to one year. It has also called for legislation to ensure that the publication of an apology regarding an article a newspaper published would not undermine its position in court.