Supreme Court rules in favour of Sunday Business Post in Mahon Tribunal case

The Supreme Court today found in favour of the Sunday Business Post newspaper in a case taken against it by the Mahon Tribunal concerning the confidentiality of tribunal documents.

The Mahon Tribunal originally took the newspaper to the High Court to obtain a permanent injunction to prevent it publishing any confidential material from the tribunal. The case centred on a series of articles by Sunday Business Post reporter Barry O'Kelly.

The Sunday Business Post had argued that the documents in question were not confidential and the tribunal was seeking to prevent the media from carrying out a vital role in the public interest.

The High Court refused to issue the injunction, a decision the Mahon Tribunal appealed to the Supreme Court. Today's majority 3-2 ruling by the Supreme Court upheld the original decision of the High Court to refuse the injunction.

"We're very pleased at the judgement of the Supreme Court and particularly pleased it laid such heavy emphasis on freedom of speech in the press," Sunday Business Post editor Cliff Taylor said outside the court today.

Full court report to follow.