The Gazette 1988

GAZETTE

MAY 1988

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I I L LAW SOCIETY i i M / r I I r o f m l M B ^ M I I Vol.82 No.4May 1! Viewpoint / 1 / L I

Viewpoint

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contempt and defamation are regarded as oppressive. The fact that there are no adequate civil remedies open to those whose privacy has been unnecessarily in- vaded or whose deceased relatives have been defamed is overlooked. Letters to the Editor or the Right of Reply offered by one of our news- papers are not adequate solutions. The media in these islands may be ignoring a ground swell of criticism of their methods of operation which their counterparts in other countries have taken steps to de-fuse. In the USA where the laws of libel provide greater pro- tection to the media than here, over 30 major US newspapers have appointed internal ombudsmen to review their ac t i v i t i es. The Washington Post's official is both the front line mediator with outside complainants and its internal conscience, monitoring whether it is effectively performing its duty of reporting events. "Fact Checkers" are now widely used in the US and are to be introduced to BBC Tele- vision t h is year. How many defamation actions would never have been started if the facts had been checked first. In his recent Fleming Lecture, John Birt, the Deputy Director General of the BBC warned of this ground swell and of the danger that it wou ld lead to con t r ol by legislation which could well limit the genuine function of the press. In calling for an enhanced Press Council with real powers and a Council of the Media to harmonize the approach to editorial policy and ethics as well as media law and journalistic training, he sounded a tocsin which deserves to be heard by those in positions of authority in the Irish media. If the media are to remedy these perceived deficiencies they can reasonably seek the quid pro quo of a Freedom of Information Act, coupled with more sensible Official Secrets Legislation. Freedom of Information Acts exist in the USA,

Lawyers and journalists always seem to end up close together in those polls which place various professions and callings in the order of public esteem — usually pretty near the bottom of the list. Each group gains unpopularity at least partly from carrying out functions in unpopular ways — defending the "guilty", protecting their sources of information — pursuing unpopular, if proper, cases and causes. What is su r p r i s i ng and disappointing is the continuing element of suspicion which exists between lawyers and journalists. Neither group seems to take sufficient trouble to understand the positions, professional duties and obligations of the other. How many lawyers know of the existence of the NUJ Code of Conduct, let alone what it provides? How many journalists have briefed themselves on the judicial and professional controls which limit the activities of lawyers? Each group lives in a world of continuing change, the rate of which appears to accelerate daily. Today's media differs radically from that of 20 years ago. Today lawyers practise in a different world too. Jou r na l i s ts seem to concentrate on yesterday's world wh en t hey look at l awye r s' activities. To take but one example, there seems to be little appreciation of the fact that lawyers have taken more avidly to modern technology than the printed media. The Law Society, conscious that self-regulation of a profession must be seen to be effective, has sought a change in legislation to permit the monitoring of the process by representatives of the public, while at the same time seeking further powers to discipline its members. It is mildly ironic to find the media, which is trenchantly crit- ical of self-regulation in other p r o f ess i ons and t r ades, less enthusiastic about any other form of control of its standards and conduc t s. The l imi t ed and necessary control by our Courts of

Self-assessment of C.A.T. From the President

89 93 95

Practice Notes

Solicitors Benevolent Association

100

International Bar

Association News

100

The Challenge of Change People & Places .

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101

102

Book Review

109 111

Younger Members News

A Case for Medical Photography

112 115 117

Correspondence

Professional Information

Executive Editor: Mary Gaynor Committee: Geraldine Clarke, Chairman

Seamus Brennan John F. Buckley Gary Byrne Michael Carrigan Jim Hickey

Nathaniel Lacy Frank Lanigan Charles R. M. Meredith Desmond Moran Daire Murphy John Schutte Maxwell Sweeney

Advertising: Liam 0 hOisin. Telephone: 305236 307860 Printing: Turner's Printing Co. Ltd., Longford. The views expressed in this publication, save where otherwise indicated, are the views of the contributors and not necessarily the views of the Council of the Society. The appearance of an advertisement in this publication does not necessarily indicate approval by the Society for the product or service advertised. Published at Blackhall Place, Dublin 7. Tel.: 710711. Telex: 31219. Fax: 710704.

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