Just heard about this on the news this morning.
"Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern proposes to insert a new section into the Defamation Bill, stating: “A person who publishes or utters blasphemous matter shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €100,000.”"
Yet "Last year the Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution, under the chairmanship of Fianna Fáil TD Seán Ardagh, recommended amending this Article to remove all references to sedition and blasphemy, and redrafting the Article along the lines of article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which deals with freedom of expression."
Also "In the only Irish case taken under this article, Corway -v- Independent Newspapers, in 1999, the Supreme Court concluded that it was impossible to say “of what the offence of blasphemy consists”."
The full article is here "http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2009/0429/1224245599892.html"
They're bringing in a crime of blasphemous libel when they have pushed and shoved the country down the proverbial toilet?! These guys with no credibility whatsoever? I can think of a few crimes that should be added to legislation long before they even look at this one.
But on the crime itself - are we to go backwards in law now, as well as in economic matters?
"Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern proposes to insert a new section into the Defamation Bill, stating: “A person who publishes or utters blasphemous matter shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €100,000.”"
Yet "Last year the Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution, under the chairmanship of Fianna Fáil TD Seán Ardagh, recommended amending this Article to remove all references to sedition and blasphemy, and redrafting the Article along the lines of article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which deals with freedom of expression."
Also "In the only Irish case taken under this article, Corway -v- Independent Newspapers, in 1999, the Supreme Court concluded that it was impossible to say “of what the offence of blasphemy consists”."
The full article is here "http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2009/0429/1224245599892.html"
They're bringing in a crime of blasphemous libel when they have pushed and shoved the country down the proverbial toilet?! These guys with no credibility whatsoever? I can think of a few crimes that should be added to legislation long before they even look at this one.
But on the crime itself - are we to go backwards in law now, as well as in economic matters?