The Law in an Era of Fake News

Justice Week 2020 has seen the Bar of NI team up with colleagues from across the UK and Ireland, including the Bar Council of England and Wales, the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland and the Bar of Ireland, to boost the profile of justice and the rule of law by placing them at the centre stage of public discourse with a particular focus on enhancing young people’s support and understanding of the justice system.

Each day of Justice Week 2020 featured a different theme and ‘defending democracy’ saw the Bar host a the next event in the Leaders in Legal Excellence Discussion Series. The panel, chaired by Sarah Ramsey QC, centred on ‘The Law in an Era of Fake News’ and featured the Right Honourable Sir Declan Morgan, Lord Chief Justice, Ronan Lavery QC, Member of the Bar of Northern Ireland, Allison Morris, Security Correspondent at the Irish News and Allan Leonard, Editor-in-Chief of FactCheckNI. The audience included representatives from across the justice sector as well as pupils from a number of local schools.

Sarah Ramsey QC highlighted the importance of using Justice Week 2020 as a platform to start a conversation around promoting the importance of the rule of law, particularly as we grapple with ‘fake news’ and misinformation in an increasingly digital age. She also reflected on the recent Reith lectures in which Former Supreme Court Justice Lord Sumption argued that politics is in decline partly, at least, because the courts and the law are increasingly doing what politicians used to do. Discussion topics for the panellists included the health of the relationship between politics and the rule of law and the importance of an independent judiciary and legal profession, particularly given some of the misinformation associated with the recent court cases around Brexit. Panellists reflected on possible changes to judicial review in England and Wales with the Lord Chief Justice querying whether there would be any appetite for change in NI.

Given the focus on young people for Justice Week 2020, there was also agreement that the legal profession must reach out to communities and schools to inform them about the role of judges and lawyers. Misinformation & ‘fake news’ were also up for debate with FactCheckNI giving us an overview of the situation in countries around the world and highlighting ways in which young citizens can think critically about information circulating on social media channels. Allison Morris also spoke about the courts in relation to this & noted that the legislation hasn’t caught up with how quickly technology has moved with the associated difficulties of ensuring that social media is exercised responsibly in this area.

Read The Bar of Northern Ireland: Leaders in Legal Excellence