There's more to the Government's proposals for a new Defamation Bill, independent Press Council and Privacy Bill than meets the eye: for the citizen, for freedom of expression and for the public's right to information on matters of public interest, though not necessarily in that order. Complex issues of the hierarchy of rights in a democracy, such as ours, have been raised.
On these grounds, the proposals to regulate the press published by Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Michael McDowell, can be found wanting. The changes in the law on libel, which has curtailed legitimate media and public scrutiny of many of the issues raised before costly tribunals in recent years, may not be worth the price of a draconian privacy law which, as drafted, will benefit only the wealthy, protect persons in public life on matters of public policy and change the modus operandi of Irish journalism in ways that are possibly unintended by its political proponents.
For all that, the Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrats Government must be given credit for producing a new Defamation Bill to replace the 1961 Act. Mr McDowell's initiative should be welcomed. The changes in the Defamation Bill 2006 are desirable reforms which have been sought by journalists and the media industry for many years. The new defence of fair and reasonable publication, for example, would allow newspapers to publish stories of public importance if they can be shown to have been thoroughly investigated and, even if defamatory, done in good faith.
The quid pro quo for these changes, in negotiations between the Minister and the Press Industry Steering Committee, was the establishment of an independent press council. The appointment of a press ombudsman and press council are welcome developments in their own right to give readers a formal and free complaints system and, equally important, to halt the declining standards in journalism.
More's the pity that these changes are now jeopardised by the publication, without any consultation, of a draconian Privacy Bill. This initiative is driven by the self-interest of three Fianna Fáil ministers who, admittedly, have been abused by low standards in some sections of the media. The Government is attempting to regulate the media again but, this time, through in camera hearings in the courts.
The right to privacy is important in the hierarchy of personal rights under the Constitution. We aim to respect that right in the pages of this newspaper - even if we fail on occasions. This writer established the constitutional right to privacy in the courts. Privacy is arguably the biggest ethical issue in journalism today. Yet, creating the tort of privacy is not the way to tackle it. This new Bill will benefit the rich and the powerful in our society, stymie legitimate investigations in the public interest and injunct journalists at the verification stage of a story. The Government must think again.