Sir, – The Government is determined to proceed with the proposal to abolish the right to trial by jury in High Court defamation cases notwithstanding opposition by all non-Government parties, many Independents, the Bar Council, the Law Society, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and prominent legal academics. That should serve as a warning to anyone concerned with or interested in the preservation of the civil liberties. If the proposed abolition of the right to jury trial is enacted, it will have far reaching consequences. Of the civil wrongs involving the fundamental rights of the citizen mentioned, only in a case for defamation will the litigants be deprived of the right to a jury. – Yours, etc,JUDGE BERNARD BARTON,(Formerly Head of the Civil Juries Division of the High Court),Wicklow.

Source: The Irish Times February 11, 2026 21:29 UTC