"We are seriously concerned that the Privacy Bill poses a significant threat to press freedom and would, if enacted, make unlawful the publication of much material that is clearly in the public interest," said WAN and the WEF in a letter to the Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, and Justice Minister Michael McDowell.

The press organisations called on the government to withdraw the Privacy Bill and adopt an industry-backed proposal to establish a press ombudsman and press council. "We ask that the press be allowed to demonstrate that a self-regulatory system can promote high journalistic standards and deliver effective redress for complainants, while protecting press freedom, as is the case in most of Europe," the letter said.

The proposed Privacy Bill would restrict publication of information in numerous public documents, enable individuals to secure court orders in secret to prevent publication of certain materials, prevent "watching, besetting or following", even in cases where journalists believe someone may be guilty of a serious crime, and would allow individuals to secure injunctions to prevent pursuit by journalists as soon as they are aware they are being investigated.

The letter from WAN and the WEF said:

"We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 102 countries, to express our serious concern at proposals to enact privacy legislation that we believe poses a significant threat to press freedom in Ireland and will inhibit the way newspapers carry out their legitimate and important function in society.

"In the coming weeks, the Seanad will consider the government’s Privacy Bill, which was published in July. The legislation was proposed by a Cabinet-appointed working group of civil servants and a lawyer, with no media or public representation. The working group held no period of consultation before publishing the bill.

"The working group was established after the Cabinet rejected the proposals of the Press Industry Steering Committee (PISC), a joint-industry body set up to agree a model for establishing an office of press ombudsman and press council. PISC, which throughout its deliberations fully considered the views of the Minister for Justice, had agreed a code of practice and felt that an understanding had been reached to establish an office of press ombudsman and a press council of Ireland.

"We are seriously concerned that the Privacy Bill poses a significant threat to press freedom and would, if enacted, make unlawful the publication of much material that is clearly in the public interest. In particular we are concerned that the Bill proposes:

  to enable individuals to secure court orders in secret to prevent the publication of material that is clearly in the public interest;

  to make it a breach of privacy to disclose certain documentation, or information obtained from that documentation, including publicly available County Council planning files, Companies Registration Office files, Vehicle Registration files, the Registry of Deeds or the Land Registry;

  to make "watching, besetting or following" an individual a violation of privacy. This would include cases in which a journalist reasonably believes someone may be guilty of a serious crime or fraud;

  to enable individuals to secure an injunction to prevent pursuit by a journalist as soon as they become aware that they are being investigated. The effect of providing an injunction at such an early stage would be to prevent journalists from obtaining sufficient information to establish the limited "four-part-test" defence laid out in the Bill.

"We respectfully suggest that the introduction of privacy legislation runs counter to the development of privacy law in Ireland and many other jurisdictions, where courts are able to apply flexible remedies which take into account the particular facts of each case and legal developments in the European Court of Human Rights. Furthermore, adequate remedies already exist under Irish law. For example, a cause of action for breach of privacy, derived from Buneacht na hEireann, already exists and damages have been awarded for such offences by Irish courts without the need for enabling legislation.

"We respectfully ask that your government withdraws the Privacy Bill and instead adopts the recommendations of the PISC. We ask that the press be allowed to demonstrate that a self-regulatory system can promote high journalistic standards and deliver effective redress for complainants, while protecting press freedom, as is the case in most of Europe."

More press freedom protests can be found here.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 73 national newspaper associations, newspapers and newspaper executives in 102 countries, 11 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups.

The WEF is the organisation for editors within the World Association of Newspapers (www.worldeditorsforum.org).

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr.