WAN, WEF, and Privacy

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| Privacy

This is not just an issue of alphabet soup. WAN and WEF are nothing to do with wrestling, or wildlife, but instead are two global media representative organisations which have called on the Government to withdraw the government’s proposed Privacy Bill. As Christine Newman reports in today’s Irish Times, the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and the World Editors Forum (WEF) have jointly written a letter to the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) and the Minister for Justice, arguing that the current Privacy Bill would overly inhibit press freedom in Ireland. The clamour against the Bill is getting louder. Is it too much to hope that the Government will listen?…

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We have a cunning plan

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| Universities

Trinity College Dublin last night launched its Strategic Plan at a reception in which the Provost presented the Minister for Education with a copy of the plan. It has played well in a piece by Sean Flynn in today’s Irish Times, under the headline “Trinity seeks 25% increase in postgraduates”, and focussing on the plan’s strong emphasis on increased research activity and aim to improve Trinity’s position in world rankings as a consequence.

It is an important development, and I welcome it wholeheartedly, but I feel the need to sound a note of caution. …

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Shedding some light on Ireland’s Family Law cases

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| Irish Law

Carol Coulter, currently Legal Affairs Correspondent of the Irish Times, has been appointed by the Courts Service as a family law reporter to record and produce reports on family law proceedings for distribution to the media and the public. According to the press release, the appointment will be for a 12-month pilot in the first instance, to identify how information on the work of the Family Law Courts can be best disseminated to the Judiciary, the wider legal community, the media and the general public.

The importance of this enlightened appointment cannot be overstated. …

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Privacy: A Concept in Search of a Bill (just not this one)

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| Privacy

Government’s propose; oppositions oppose. It’s what they do. The government has proposed a Privacy Bill. Predictably, Fine Gael, one of the main opposition parties, has called for the Privacy Bill to be scrapped. Yesterday’s call, reported in today’s Irish Times, is not their first: when the Bill was first proposed last July, Fine Gael opposed it then too.

But although the business of opposition is to oppose, there is much to be said for Fine Gael’s position. …

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Media Regulation

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| Defamation, Defamation Bill 2006, Media and Communications, Privacy

Another day, another conference. Today, the School of Law, Trinity College Dublin hosted a conference on the government’s reform plans relating to the defamation, privacy and broadcasting. I think that it was an important contribution to a crucial debate. Personal highlights included my colleage Eoin Carolan‘s superb conceptual discussion of press freedom in this context (on his birthday, I think; and if I’m right: happy birthday, Eoin!), Dearbhail McDonald’s insights into practical journalism, and Paul Drury’s combative speech that the regulation of the press is a bad idea and won’t work anyway.

I talked about the proposed Press Council from the 2003 Report of the Legal Advisory Group on Defamation (pdf) to the 2006 Bill. …

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