Our Constitution is strong on fundamental rights but weak when it comes to protecting free speech, writes Jim O'Keeffe
If we value our democratic system, we must realise the importance of freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
World Press Freedom Day gives us the opportunity to examine Ireland's record on freedom of expression and also to look at other countries where the seeds of democracy have yet to bear full fruit.
Take, for example, the contrast between the deficiencies in our system compared to the position in the former Soviet republic of the Ukraine.
For many years the need for reform of Ireland's libel laws has been spoken of, with little effect. In the Ukraine, more dangerously, political interference and the failure of the authorities to guarantee the safety and security of journalists threatens the very basis of free speech.
No case has stirred our sense of injustice more than that of Georgy Gongadze.
This campaigning journalist established a huge reputation for his objective and professional reports and exposed corruption within the highest levels of the ruling elite.
On September 16th, 2000, the 31-year-old journalist left his office to go home to his wife and two children. He never arrived.
A headless corpse, discovered outside Kiev, has since been identified as his body.
To date, no satisfactory inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his death has been carried out.
This may be related to the fact that a bodyguard of the Ukrainian President, Mr Leonid Kuchma, left the country two months after Gongadze's death. He was carrying audiotapes which allegedly incriminated the president in the journalist's disappearance.
On one such tape Mr Kuchma is recorded asking ministers to "deal with" the investigative journalist.
Why should Ireland be concerned about the brutal beheading of a journalist in a country on the far side of Europe?
Simply, because freedom of expression is one of the most fundamental rights in a democratic Europe.
We are one of the oldest democracies in Europe. Some 50 years ago, we were a founding member of the Council of Europe. The Ukraine is now a member of this council and a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights. We have a duty to monitor human rights not only in Ireland but also in other states within the Council of Europe.
Our Constitution is strong on fundamental rights, but the extent to which free speech is protected is weak.
In 1996, the Constitution Review Group recommended a replacement of the relevant Article of the Constitution (Article 40.6.1) with a new clause protecting the right of free speech, modelled on article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Seven years on and this still has not happened.
Many aspects of our defamation laws are arcane and unsatisfactory and this has been documented in numerous reports over many years.
Last year, the Justice Minister, Mr McDowell, established yet another expert group on the issue. Yet what we really need now is action to amend our defamation laws and to set up a press complaints system as an alternative to the courts.
The European Convention on Human Rights must also be incorporated directly into our legal system. The necessary legislation has been before the Oireachtas for over two years and the report stage is due in the Dáil shortly.
Mr McDowell, however, insists on disagreeing with virtually everybody else as to the manner of incorporation.
Labour deputy Mr Joe Costello and I spent four days in committee with the Minister during the last Dáil, mainly on this issue. There is still time for the Minister to have a change of heart.
Our responsibilities to foster democratic principles, including the rule of law and freedom of the media, extend beyond our borders. This is why the Gongadze case is so important.
Later this month, the Council of Europe committee which monitors the obligations and commitments of member-states will meet in Kiev.
As a member of that committee, I hope to attend. The issue of media freedom and the unresolved death of Gongadze will be on the agenda and will be raised with the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the parliament's ombudsperson and the prosecutor general.
There is no better way to mark World Press Freedom Day than by resolving to initially take action at home to underpin freedom of the media, while also persisting in our call for an independent inquiry into the murder of Georgy Gongadze.
Jim O'Keeffe TD is Fine Gael TD for Cork South West and a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.