The Gazette 1982

GAZETTE

JULY/AUGUST 1982

Local Authorities and the Press

Professor Richard Woulfe, Director of Education,

Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.

NY examination of the rights of accredited represen-

tatives of the media — in their relationship with local

authorities in the Republic of Ireland — involves as a

corollary an examination of the duties of local authorities

towards members of the press. Local Authorities are legal

persons and enjoyrights which it is the duty of the press to

observe.

The press must continuously watch for and guard against

infringements of the law by it in the areas of contempt of

court, breach of privilege, official secrets and (less likely)

blasphemy or obscenity — all seen as breaches of public

rights — and in the areas of defamation and copyright —

seen as breaches of private rights.

The vexed problem of the disclosure or protection of

Journalists' sources bridges the gap between these general

areas and the specific area of the entitlement ofjournalists

to information stemming from or in the hands of local

authorities.

What then are therights of ajournalist to:-

(a) inspect documents of local authorities, and

(b) attend and report meetings of local authorities?

In respect ofthefirst, it would appear that thejournalist is

in no different position from any othermember ofthe public

and, further, that there is no general right to inspect docu-

ments of local authorities. Specific statutes and pieces of

delegated legislation confer such rights in restricted spheres

which will be touched on shortly but the very conferring of

such rights of inspection by individual pieces of legislation

supports the view that there is no general right of inspection.

In the sphere of Government, it has always been regard-

ed as important that expenditure and revenue should be

subjected to public scrutiny. Whether or not this right of

public scrutiny in the local authority area goes beyond fiscal

matters or is confined to such matters hinges to a large

extent on the interpretation of Article 19(4) of the Local

Government (Application of Enactments) Order, 1898.

Clause 4 of this article reads:-

"Every Local Government Elector in a County or-

County District may, at all reasonable times, with-

out payment, inspect and take copies of and Extracts

from all Books, Accounts and Documents belonging

to or under the control of the Council of a County or

District."

Taken in isolation, this clause would confer on those

members of the public whose names appear on the Local

Government Register of Electors an un-limited right to

inspect and take copies of documents in the possession of a

Local Authority; there are, however indications which

suggest that thisright is not un-limited, but is confined to

those Books, Accounts and Documents relating to the

Audit of the Local Authority's accounts and associated

matters.

The Enabling Statute for the Application ofEnactments

Order, 1898 is the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898,

Section 104. This Section enabled the Lord Lieutenant by

Order in Council to apply to Ireland the English and

Scottish Statutes specified in the Fourth Schedule to the

1898 Act and to make the necessary adaptations to those

Statutes. Section 104( 1) sets out Fifteen subjects or head-

ings in respect of which the English and Scottish statutes

might be applied.

The seventh subject in the list is entitled:-

"Accounts, Audit and Annual Budget."

The 1898 Order takes these subjects heading by heading

in the same order as they appear in the Act and Articles 19

to 21 inclusive appear under the heading:-

"Accounts, Audit and Annual Budget."

The side-note, while admittedly not a part of the Order,

reads:-

"Making up and Audit of Accounts under the Act of

County and District Councils and Inspection of

Accounts."

The English Act applied by Clause 19 is the Local

Government Act, 1894, of which section 58 was applied

almost word for word by Article 19 and contains similar

wording to Clause 4 ofArticle 19. There does not appear to

be any reported Irish decision on the interpretation of

Article 19(4) nor on the equivalent provision in the English

Act of 1894.

Apart from the indications to be drawn directly from the

wording ofthe Local Government Acts 1894 and 1898 and

the Order of 1898 to the effect that the right of inspection

should be treated as a restricted one, other indications exist.

A whole series of statutes confer on members of the public

or upon certain members of the public rights to inspect

specific documents in the hands of Local Authorities.

These powers, given by individual Acts, would not be

necessary ifa generalrightofinspection existed. One brings

to mind the inspection of Valuation Lists, Annual Estim-

ates and Acounts, Electoral Registers, Rate Books,

Minutes of Council proceedings under the Municipal Cor-

porations Act, 1840 (S. 92), List of Advances under the

Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, Inspection of the Regis-

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