McDowell under fire for ‘totalitarian’ garda bill

A BILL being proposed by the Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has been condemned as totalitarian and an outrage by opposition parties. The bill provides for a penalty of up to five years in prison for gardaí who disclose official information to a journalist or other parties.

The initial draft of the Garda Bill 2003 includes a provision that prohibits members and civilian employees of the gardaí from disclosing any information to “any person or body” without lawful authority.

The Department of Justice yesterday stressed only the “heads” (an initial and general draft) of the bill have been published and that the minister would welcome submissions on the proposals.

However, the proposals were roundly condemned by Fine Gael, the Labour Party, the National Union of Journalists and civil liberties’ groups who said the provisions would criminalise routine contacts between gardaí and journalists.

Fine Gael’s justice spokesman John Deasy described the provision as “totalitarian stuff”.

“We cannot go down the road of preventing gardaí from speaking to members of the press. In many cases, they do so for very good reasons,” he said.

Joan Burton, spokesperson on justice for the Labour Party, contended it “reflected an increasing obsession by Fianna Fáil and the PDs with secrecy”. She accused Mr McDowell of losing all sense of proportion since becoming minister and said it would prevent gardaí from disclosing wrongdoing.

“This is a Draconian proposal that would expose members of the force to up to five years in prison, even for the accidental disclosure of effectively any official information, no matter how innocent or innocuous,” she said.

Irish secretary of the NUJ Seamus Dooley also condemned the provision, describing it as a “a gross overreaction”.

“This will have implications for whistle-blowing. A serving officer who wants to raise an issue faces five years in prison. That to me is a deeply disproportionate,” he said.

The justice spokeswoman said the proposal formed part of legislation that would be the first major reform of the gardaí since 1925.

She said the bill only referred to unauthorised leaking of information, something which was already laid down under garda disciplinary codes and the Official Secrets Act.

Malachy Mulligan of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties said the proposals seemed very restrictive. It was crucial, he said, that exemptions be built into the legislation providing gardaí with a system of conveying information to outside bodies, such as TDs or the proposed garda inspectorate.

He said it was through whistle- blowing that information was sent to elected representatives Brendan Howlin and Jim Higgins regarding allegations of serious wrongdoing involving the Donegal Garda District.

“It’s important the media isn’t restricted too much from being aware of what’s going on in relation to serious crime so that the public can be informed,” he said.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors declined to comment, but said it would be making a detailed submission on the bill.

The Garda Representative Association has said it did not have a problem with the provisions.