High Court of Ireland seeks clarity from European Court
regarding the circumstances in which it can order the identities of
anonymous online wrongdoers to be revealed.
On 19 May 2021, the High Court of Ireland confirmed that it
proposes to make a preliminary reference to the Court of Justice of
the European Union (CJEU) seeking clarity on the
circumstances in which it can grant what is known as a Norwich
Pharmacal Order. Norwich Pharmacal Orders (named
after the first case in which such an order was made) have been
granted by the courts in Ireland for decades. However, in recent
years, there has been a significant increase in the number of
orders being sought against social media companies, in particular
by parties seeking to unmask anonymous users who have made
defamatory comments online. The orders are sought so that legal
proceedings can be brought against those users once their
identities are known. Applications for Norwich Pharmacal
Orders have, to date, tended
