DD and Panama Papers Dermot Desmond obtains discovery order against The Irish Times
Colin Coyle Sunday March 08 2020, 12.01am GMT, The Sunday Times
Dermot Desmond, a billionaire businessman and Celtic FC’s largest shareholder, has won a series of discovery orders against The Irish Times as part of a defamation action over publication of documents allegedly linking him to the Panama Papers, writes Colin Coyle. The newspaper is claiming most of the relevant records have been “destroyed”.
Desmond sought access to documentation supplied to The Irish Times by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Sddeutsche Zeitung, a German newspaper, in relation to the Panama Papers. This was a collection of 11.5 million documents leaked from the Panamanian legal firm Mossack Fonseca that purported to reveal financial information about offshore tax entities.
The Irish Times used the material for a story about Desmond’s tax affairs on April 7, 2016. As part of his discovery application, the businessman sought access to internal Irish Times communications about the story, including notes concerning editorial decisions to publish the article, and communications between The Irish Times, the ICIJ and Sddeutsche Zeitung about his tax affairs.
The businessman also asked for any documentation relating to efforts by the newspaper to contact him for comment.
Desmond claims that The Irish Times article was defamatory, as it suggested he was involved in suspicious financial transactions intended to hide money or assets and that there was “something improper or sinister about his financial affairs”. He also claims the “gratuitous publication” of the article infringed his right to privacy. The businessman is seeking aggravated damages due to the prominent positioning of the article, which he claims “aggravated the hurt, upset and damage caused to him”.
The Irish Times has argued that publication of the story was in the public interest. The newspaper asserts that it made clear Desmond’s use of Mossack Fonseca was “perfectly legal”, while the story helped to bring transparency to the “shortcomings” and “secrecy” of the international financial services system.
In a judgment published last week, the judge Maurice Collins ruled that Desmond was entitled to discovery of a trove of material, including correspondence between the ICIJ, Sddeutsche Zeitung and Irish Times in relation to him, and some internal communication regarding the editorial decision to publish the story. The judge noted that this discovery order was being made “without prejudice to any objection to inspection/production which The Irish Times considers it appropriate to make”.
The Irish Times is likely to claim journalistic privilege and legal professional privilege over Desmond’s right to inspect much of this documentation. Collins ruled that the newspaper should list documents used to prepare the story even if they had been “destroyed”.
Separately, The Irish Times published a full-page article by Desmond yesterday, entitled: “Everyone has a right to a home . . . Here is how I believe it can be done.”