The Gazette 1982

GAZETTE

JULY/AUGUST 1982

ter kept by the Local Authority under Section 8(3) and (4) ofthe Local Government (Planning and Development) Act 1963, the Appeal documents submitted to an Board Plean- ala under article 3 9 ofthe Planning and Development Regu- lations 1977 (confined to parties to the Appeal) and the Register kept pursuant to Section 3(8) of the Sanitary Services Act, 1964. A particularly persuasive indication on the right of inspection is contained in Section 27 of the County Management Act, 1940. This list is illustrative rather than exhaustive. It is a canon of interpretation of Statutes that they be interpreted in a manner best calculated to serve the public interest and it is not necessarily true that the public interest would be served by an indiscriminate examination of the documents of Local Authorities by members of the public; indeed, the wholesale exercise of such a right might well bring Local Government to a virtual standstill. The Supreme Court in Re Fitzgerald [1925] 1 I.R. 39 held that the Register of Lands was a public document of which there was a right of inspection and this decision is in accord with the public interest in land transactions. As a corollary, only those documents in the hands of a Local Authority which would be described as public documents ought to be available for inspection and Statutes have clearly prescribed specific documents in the custody of a Local Authority as being public documents and available for inspection. Routine files in the care ofa Local Authority could scarcely be regarded as such. To sum up, the internal indication contained in the Application of Enactments Order, 1898, the Enabling Act and the English Act of 1894 applied by the Order, coupled with the existence of a series of Statutes passed both prior and subsequent to the 1898 legislation conferring rights to inspect specific documents only and all read in the light of the public interest test, constitute a persuasive argument that Article 19(4) of the 1898 Order does not confer on the public a general right to inspect documents of Local Authorities but confers such a right in fiscal matters only and that, accordingly theright of the public to inspect such documents must be ascertained by consulting specific Statutes and Statutory Orders relating to specific spheres of Local Administration. Reporting on Meetings Attendance of the press at meetings of Local Authorities is regulated under the: (a) Local Government (Ireland) Act 1902, section 15: (b) Order dated 9th February 1903 of the Local Government Board for Ireland. (c) Standing Orders of individual Local Authorities: Section 15 of the 1902 Act reads as follows:- "No resolution of any council, board or commission- ers to exclude from its meetings representatives ofthe press shall be valid unless sanctioned by the Local Government Board in pursuance of byelaws, which the Local Government Board are hereby empowered to frame, regulating the admission of the representa- tives of the press to such meetings."

The L. G.B. order of 9th February 1903 appears in the appendix to this paper. The power conferred by section 61 of the Local Government Act 1955 on the Minister for the Environ- ment* to make regulations in relation to meetings has not been operatedbecause the section has not been brought into force. Journalists are, therefore, entitled to be present at a meeting of a Local Authority on production of written credentials from the editor unless there exists a resolution of that Local Authority, sanctioned by the Minister for the Environment, to exclude them. Ifattendance ofthe press at meetings is likely to be an issue editors might consider writing to theirLocal Authorities stating that their reporters will attend and asking ifthere exists a resolution ofthe Local Authority to exclude representatives of the press which resolution has been properly sanctioned by the Minister for the Environment or his predecessors. It must be doubtful if sanction for any such resolution newly sought at this time would be forthcoming from the Minister. It is the right of a Local Authority to go into committee that is the nub of the problem. If members of a Local Authority wish to discuss matters in the absence of the press, their proper course is to refer them to a committee. Ifa decision of the full Council is necessary, the committee's recommendation will have to be brought back to the Coun- cil and become the subject of a resolution which will appear on the agenda. The press does not have a right to attend meetings of committees. The not infrequent practice of a Council to resolve to go into committee, immediately to discuss the matter or speci- fic item which they do not want the press to report and then return to an open forum situation is ofquestionable legality as a method of setting aside the journalists' right to be present and to report the proceedings. In fact, ofcourse, the elected representatives and the press rub along happily in. this matter of not reporting sensitive items because all per- ceive that the public interest is best served by not reporting the matter in the press — certainly not in detail with individual councillors named. Ifa newspaper adopts a "publish and be damned" stance on a matter discussed by a full local assembly on an occasion where its members had resolved to go into com- mittee the question ofqualified privilege is underscored and could become of critical importance to the newspaper: further, the editor must know that he may shatter the existing relationship and throw both press and Local Authority into adopting strict legal positions. Standing Orders of each Local Authority must be studied by the editor and his reporters. Standing Orders vary but those of Dublin Corporation must not be -seen as restrictive of the press, a fact which can be seen from the following extracts: 14. "A copy ofevery Report to be submitted to the Coun- cil shall, before the submission of the Report, be transmitted at the same time to every Member of the Council, and to the editor ofevery Daily, Evening and Sunday newspaper published in Dublin, and also to the radio and television authorities." 46. "Unless when the Council, by Resolution, otherwise determines, visitors and representatives of the Press

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