Two global organisations representing newspapers have called on the Government to withdraw the Privacy Bill, stating it posed a threat to press freedom.
In a letter to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and the World Editors Forum (WEF) protested that the proposed legislation would "inhibit the way newspapers carry out their legitimate and important function in society.
"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," the letter stated.
Calling for the Bill's withdrawal, the WAN and WEF, which represent 18,000 publications in 102 countries, urged the Government to 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 Bill would restrict the publication of information in public documents, enable individuals to secure court orders in secret to prevent publication of certain materials, and prevent "watching, besetting or following", even when journalists believed someone may be guilty of a serious crime.
The letter sets out four main concerns that the Bill would:
enable individuals to secure court orders in secret to prevent the publication of material that was clearly in the public interest;
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;
make "watching, besetting or following" an individual a violation of privacy. This would include where a journalist reasonably believed someone may be guilty of a serious crime or fraud;
enable individuals to secure an injunction to prevent pursuit by a journalist as soon as they became aware they were being investigated.
Providing an injunction at such an early stage would prevent journalists from obtaining sufficient information to establish the limited "four-part-test" defence laid out in the Bill. The introduction of privacy legislation ran counter to the development of privacy laws, they said.