The Gazette 1982

GAZETTE

JULY/AUGUST 1982

may be present at Meetings of the Council in the Galleries and other parts ofthe Chamberfromtime to time allotted to their use, and they are at liberty to report and publish the proceedings of the Council." 60. "Representatives of the Press, Radio and Television may be present at meetings of Standing Committees and Committee of the Whole House provided that when confidential matters are under discussion these Committees may decide to exclude such representa- tives for the relevant portion of the meeting." 79. "Every Committee is authorised to furnish to the Press reports of any of its proceedings." Standing Orders must stand up to the tests facing all subordinate legislation, notably the ultra vires rule. The position ofthe press in England in relation to attend- ance at meetings ought to be clearer than in Ireland because they have a number of regulatory statutes; the upshot is, however, that they have statutory grey areas where we have practical grey areas. The Local Authority (Admission of the Press to Meet- ings) Act 1908 — which did not apply to Ireland — allowed the press into full Council meetings and those of Education Committees. The Act arose from the decision of the High Court in Tenby Corporation v. Mason [1908] 1 Ch. 457 where a newspaper editor was held not entitled to attend meetings of the Local Council either as a journalist or as a ratepayer.

The 1908 Act allowed the press to be excluded if a majority of the members voted that this would be in the public interest. Dis-satisfaction with the provision lead a Tory back-bencher —one Margaret Thatcher — to intro- duce what become the Public Bodies (Admission to Meet- ings) Act 1960 which gave both the press and the public a right to attendmeetings of local authorities and other speci- fied public bodies. The Local Government Act 1972 ex- tended these admission rights to local authority commit- tees. Under the 1960 Act, a meeting of a committee of a public body, if the committee included all members of that body would be treated as if it were a meeting of the body itself. The 1960 Act, however, restricts the right of admis- sion tomeetings; section 1 (2) commences "A body may, by resolution, exclude the public from a meeting (whether during the whole or part of the proceedings) whenever pub- licity would be prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted, or for any other special reasons stated in the resolution and arising from the nature ofthat business or ofthe proceedings In England, therefore, the right of the press to attend meetings of local authorities whether such meetings be in full or in committee can be curtailed by resolution of the local authority using its own subjective standard of the public interest within the parameters of section 1 (2) of the 1960 Act, while in the Republic the press has no right under the law as presently interpreted to attend meetings of any committee ofa local authority but has a right to attendmeet- ings of the full local authority unless (a) that local authority has the sanction of the Minister for the Environment to

Incorporated Law Society of Ireland IMPORTANT NOTICE Practising Certificates will not be issued in 1982 or future years unless the Solicitors' Accountants' Certificate is in order, i.e., a clear Certificate has been lodged within 6 months of the solicitors' accounting date. Where, on application for a Practising Certificate, an Accounting Certificate is not in order, the Solicitor will be notified in writing that the Practising Certificate cannot issue until the Accountants' Certificate is lodged and that should be done within one month. He will be informed that pending receipt of the Accountants' Certificate his remittance is being held in suspense account and that in the meantime, it is an offence to practice without a Practising Certificate. After a lapse of one month, the solicitor will be informed that unless the Accountants' Certificate is received within a further month, disciplinary proceedings will be commenced without further notice and that, at the same time, the Bar Association and County Registrar will be notified that the solicitor is practising without a current Practising Certificate. The situation regarding outstanding Accountants Certificates is reviewed at each Council meeting. JAMES J. IVERS, Director General

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