The Gazette 1996

B O O K

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b) The granting of power to a court to make a "privacy order" to restrain persons from invading privacy or disclosing information c) The creation of certain offences, including an offence of infringing the integrity of a person by observation - for example, by photography, television broadcast or video recording - without that person's consent, expressed or implied, and an offence of infringing the privacy of a person by listening to or recording by means of an aural device the voice of that person without consent. Further, the consultation paper reiterates the recommendation of the Commission in its Report on non-fatal offences against the

person that an offence of harassment be created.

Privacy: surveillance and the interception of communications

For many reasons, this consultation paper is sure to become a classic. While it may not be the primary intention of the publication, it represents an eminent consideration and analysis of the current state of the law. This is a unique publication, deserving of the widest possible consideration. The ultimate goal of the law is the common good. If implemented, these recommendations will contribute to greater peace of mind - and an enhancement of the dignity of the individual.

Law Reform Commission, Dublin, 1996, x+334pp, £20 in the literature of jurisprudence on privacy, one contribution stands to the fore. Character- ised as the most influential law review article ever published, "The Right to Privacy". 4 Hanard Law Review , 193 (1890) argued that it was time to recognise a right of privacy with the function of protecting "inviolate personality". Samuel D Warren, a Boston lawyer and business man, reacted against the publicity given to the social life of his family by the "yellow press" of his time. Warren's partner was one of the great American lawyers of his generation, Louis D Brandeis. From the 1890s onwards, scholars have produced monographs on a person's right to one's likeness, letters, to the protection of a person's sphere of privacy or intimacy against public disclosure, to a person's honour, and to the undisturbed conduct of one's lawful business. For many years, the concept of privacy remained a theoretical concept in Ireland, adopted only by writers under American influences. Today, the decisions of the judges (particularly in constitutional cases) together with statutory provisions have contributed significantly to the elaboration of privacy as an element of positive law. In time to come, this Law Reform publication on privacy will stand as a significant contribution to the development of an important branch of the law in Ireland. The primary purpose of this note is to inform readers of the fact that a consultation paper on privacy published by the Commission is available. In a short note like this, it is not possible to do justice to the analysis of law and the recommendations contained in the 344 pages of the publication. However, among the provisional recommendations in the consultation paper are: a) The creation of new torts of (i) invasion of the privacy of another person by means of surveillance; and (ii) disclosure or

Dr Eamonn G Hall

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Pictured at the launch of Irish law for the layperson last month are solicitor Michael O'Brien, who wrote the book, and Mervyn Taylor, Minister for Equality and Law Reform. According to Mr O'Brien, the book aims to give the lay reader a general knowledge of the principles of Irish law.

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Mr Justice O'Flaherty of the Supreme Court (left) at the launch of Irish pensions law and practice with the authors Kevin Finucane, a director of Coyle Hamilton Ltd, and Brian Buggy, an associate in the Commercial Department of Matheson Ormsby Prentice. Both authors are solicitors and the 800 page text is the result of more than two and a half years of research and preparation. Irish pensions law and practice is published by Oak Tree Press and costs £65 h/b and £49.95 p/b.

publication of the purport or substance of information or material obtained by means of privacy-invasive surveillance.

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