The National Union of Journalists has expressed “grave concern” at the level of damages awarded last night to communications consultant Monica Leech in her libel trial against Independent Newspapers.
A High Court jury yesterday awarded Ms Leech €1.872 million after it found that a series of articles published in the Evening Heraldin 2004 meant that she had been having an affair with Minister Martin Cullen. Independent Newspapers will apply for a stay on the award tomorrow, to allow it to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court
The NUJ’s Irish secretary Séamus Dooley said the record level of damages was “disproportionate and bore no relationship with reality.”
He said the union supported the concept of jury trials in defamation proceedings “but there is a clear need for reform of the law in this area, especially in the awarding of costs.
“Judges should be free to give specific direction in relation to the scale of damages. The current system allows juries to settle on an arbitrary figure,” Mr Dooley said.
“The result is outrageous sums, which are nothing more than the product of a consensus with no reference point or commercial reality.”
