The protocol applies to all cases in the Court of Judicature and County Court involving claims in defamation, misuse of private information, breach of confidence, data protection, harassment by publication and malicious falsehood that arise from publication or threatened publication by the print or broadcast media, online, on social media, or in speech.

It revokes and replaces the previous pre-action protocol in defamation issued in April 2011.

Where a proposed defendant in a defamation claim is not based in the UK, the updated protocol states that the letter of claim should set out “any facts or matters relevant to Northern Ireland being the most appropriate forum for the dispute”.