(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has voiced concern about a bill currently being discussed by the Parliamentary Assembly of Northern Ireland. The draft “Policing – Miscellaneous Provisions (Northern Ireland) Order 2007” would extend the powers of the police to search and seize documents. The organisation wrote on 18 January 2007 to Northern Ireland Secretary Peter […]
(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has voiced concern about a bill currently being discussed by the Parliamentary Assembly of Northern Ireland. The draft “Policing – Miscellaneous Provisions (Northern Ireland) Order 2007” would extend the powers of the police to search and seize documents.
The organisation wrote on 18 January 2007 to Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain warning him about the threats that this bill poses to press freedom and the confidentiality of journalists’ sources, and asking him to intervene to ensure that they do not materialise.
“As you know, the work of journalists depends closely on their ability to protect the confidentiality of their sources,” the letter said. “This essential condition for investigative journalism is seriously threatened by this bill.”
The letter continued: “Under this law, the police would no longer have to produce such explicit evidence as they are currently required to show in order to obtain permission to carry out a search and seize documents. The new prerogatives would also allow them to confiscate documents or electronic files for a period of 48 hours, which could be extended to 96 hours if the files had to be translated or deciphered.
Reporters Without Borders pointed out in the letter that journalists have been subject to harassment and threats and that controversial searches of premises and homes of journalists have taken place in recent years in Northern Ireland. “We are convinced that the adoption of this bill would do a great deal of harm to press freedom and the process of normalisation in this region,” the letter concluded.
To find out more about this bill, read an article written for Reporters Without Borders by British journalist Glyn Roberts. The article is available on the Reporters Without Borders website: http://www.rsf.org.
