Book review - Defamation: Law and Practice (2nd Edition) by Neville Cox and Eoin McCullough

• Author: Dr. Ailbhe O’Neill
• Pages: pp 168 - 170
• Published date: 12 July 2022
• Date: 12 July 2022

168

Defamation: Law and Practice

DR AILBHE O’NEILL*

Defamation: Law and Practice by Neville Cox and Eoin McCullough (2nd edn,

Clarus Press 2022)

In the eight years since the rst edition of this text was published there have

been numerous developments as the contours of the Defamation Act 2009 (the

‘Act’) continue to be mapped out. ese developments in respect of the tort

of defamation have taken place against a backdrop where traditional liberal

free speech theory is challenged by advances in technology which have been

weaponised and seem poised to undermine the democratic values on which Article

40.6.1 of the Constitution was based. e authors of Defamation: Law and Practice

do not shy away from these broader issues, contextualising their work and placing

it in its wider political and international context to good eect. e Introduction is

particularly insightful in this regard and throughout the text, the chapters are both

informative and thought provoking in their analysis of the challenges arising for the

Law of Defamation both practically and philosophically in the era of Web 2.0.

e book is, as the title suggests, a textbook on the Law and Practice of Defamation

and it covers the subject matter comprehensively with a view to assisting both the

student and the practitioner. Both will be well served by this book. It is divided

into four Parts: e Elements of the Tort of Defamation, Defences in a Defamation

Case, Available Reliefs and Practice and Procedure. is is preceded by an

Introduction which is rich in analysis and sets the Constitutional and Convention

backdrop for the remainder of the text. is chapter would not be out of place in

a text on freedom of expression itself and it will be particularly useful for students

seeking to grasp the key themes that arise when considering the potential clash

between freedom of expression and reputation. e updated discussion of the case

from the European Court of Human Rights and its evolving understanding of

reputational rights in this chapter is informative and covers an oen neglected area

of the case law from Strasbourg.

One of the features of the law in this area is the plethora of interlocutory

applications and unreported decisions. e authors have researched the case law in

great depth and breadth and the book includes references to decisions of the High

Court of England and Wales as well as Irish Circuit Court decisions which might

otherwise go unnoticed. By bringing into relief such developments, they do a great

service to the busy practitioner who will nd a useful seam of case law for mining in

the book as a whole. e separate Part on Practice and Procedure is similarly useful

* Dr. Ailbhe O’Neill is Ussher Assistant Professor at Trinity College Dublin. Any opinions expressed

in this article are those of the author alone.