The Blasphemy Bill has been published and will repeal sections 36 and 37 of the Defamation Act 2009 which provide a statutory basis for the offence of blasphemy.

Justice minister Charlie Flanagan said yesterday that he was pleased that Government had moved quickly to approve the drafting of the General Scheme of the Repeal of Offence of Publication or Utterance of Blasphemous Matter Bill.

The legislative changes being proposed will give effect to the removal of the offence of blasphemy from the Constitution.

Review

On defamation law reform, the Minister promised a Q1 2019 review of the Defamation Act 2009.

This will cover:

• The respective roles of judge and jury in defamation cases,
• The defences available to the media in the context of public-interest news reporting, and
• The level of damages which can be awarded by Irish courts in defamation cases.

The President signed the Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018 on 27 November.