GAZETTE

eConveyancing

eConveyancing envisages a paperless process for property transactions. It involves placing the complete conveyancing system on an electronic platform. The Law Reform Commission, Government and the Property Registration Authority support the move towards eConveyancing. The Law Society also embraces the move towards a more efficient, transparent system of conveyancing for the benefit of consumers and all stakeholders.

The Law Society has been engaged in developing an eConveyancing strategy and vision and established a Task Force in 2005 to progress this mandate.

On the 22nd July 2008 the Law Society launched eConveyancing: Back to Basic Principles. Vision of an Electronic System of Conveyancing (eVision).  This eVision was formally presented to the Law Reform Commission on that date. It is intended to provide a framework for discussion and to stimulate other stakeholders in the conveyancing process to examine their procedures and involvement in the current conveyancing process and thus initiate the changes required to facilitate eConveyancing.

Further information can be obtained from the Law Society eConveyancing Project Manager, Gabriel Brennan.

Reproduced by kind permission of the Law Society of Ireland November 2008

One To Watch: New Legislation - Broadcasting Bill 2008

On 14 May 2008, the government published the Broadcasting Bill 2008. If introduced, it will significantly alter the broadcasting landscape in Ireland. The bill is comprehensive and seeks to deal with all aspects of the regulation and provision of broadcasting in Ireland. It will also consolidate existing legislation relating to broadcasting. Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan said: “This is a modernising bill designed to meet the needs of Irish broadcasting as we enter a new era of media and regulation. In essence, the bill aims to level the playing field of the broadcasting market in Ireland and place greater emphasis on the needs of viewers and listeners.” The bill is currently in the second stage in Dáil Éireann. More information on it can be found at www.oireachtas.ie.

Broadcasting Authority of Ireland

The bill provides (sections 5-38) that the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) and the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC) will be abolished and replaced by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) (Údarás Craolacháin na hÉireann). This will assume the roles currently held by the BCI and the BCC, as well as a range of new functions. The purpose of the BAI will be to ensure that the number and categories of broadcasting services best serve the needs of the people of the island of Ireland, bearing in mind their languages and traditions and their religious, ethical and cultural diversity; that the democratic values enshrined in the Constitution are upheld; and that open and pluralistic broadcasting services are provided.

Duties, Codes & Rules

Section 39 imposes certain duties on broadcasters. Every broadcaster shall ensure that:

• News is reported in an objective and impartial manner.

• Reporting of current affairs is conducted in a manner that is fair to all interests concerned, and that the broadcast matter is presented in an objective and impartial manner. If this should not prove practicable, two or more related broadcasts should be considered as a whole, if the broadcasts are transmitted within a reasonable period of each other.

• In the case of sound broadcasters, a minimum of 20% of broadcasting time should be devoted to the broadcasting of news and current affairs programmes, unless a derogation is authorised by the BAI. If the broadcasting service is provided for more than 12 hours in any one day, two hours of broadcasting time between the hours of 7am and 7pm should be devoted to the broadcasting of news and current affairs programmes – unless a derogation is authorised by the BAI.

• Anything that could reasonably be regarded as offending against good taste or decency, or as being likely to promote, or incite to crime, or as tending to undermine the authority of the state, is not broadcast.

• The privacy of individuals is not unreasonably encroached upon in the making or broadcasting of programmes.

• Party political broadcasts are still allowed, provided that, in the allocation of time to particular broadcasts, an unfair preference is not given to any party. Section 41 also imposes a number of requirements in relation to advertising, setting out maximum times to be allocated to it. The bill also provides for a prohibition on advertising that is directed towards a political end, has any relation to an industrial dispute, or addresses the issue of merit or otherwise of adhering to any religious faith or belief or of becoming a member of any religion or religious organisation. Once again, there is a derogation from this prohibition for party political broadcasts, as long as no unfair preference is given to any one party in the allocation of time for the broadcast. Provision is made in the bill for the development of codes governing standards and practices to be observed by broadcasters (section 42) and for the preparation of rules in respect of access to broadcasting services by persons with hearing or sight impairments (section 43).

Redress

Section 47 requires broadcasters to consider complaints made to them and to establish a mechanism for dealing with complaints. The bill introduces a ‘right of reply’ mechanism, whereby individuals who feel their reputations have been damaged may have this corrected in a further broadcast (section 49).

Enforcement

The Compliance Committee of the BAI can conduct investigations into the affairs of a broadcasting contractor in respect of adherence by a commercial or community broadcaster with the terms of their contract with the BAI and their licence. On the recommendation of the Compliance Committee, the BAI may suspend or terminate a broadcasting contract (sections 50 and 51). Financial sanctions may also be imposed on the broadcaster (sections 52-56).

Public Service Broadcasting

The bill also amends legislation regarding public service broadcasters and the allocation of public funding. It revises the legislation relating to RTÉ and TG4 and sets up the framework for two new public service broadcasters – an Irish film channel and an Oireachtas channel. There is also provision for the establishment by RTÉ and TG4 of ‘audience councils’ to represent the views of listeners and viewers (sections 79-128).

Other Proposals

The bill also makes provision for the regulation of digital broadcasting and analogue switch-off, television licences, the broadcasting fund and television coverage of major events.

Reproduced by kind permission of the Law Society of Ireland November 2008

Legislation Update 16th September - 20th October, 2008

Details of all bills, acts and statutory instruments since 1997 are on the library catalogue – www.lawsociety.ie (members’ and students’ areas) – with updated information on the current stage a bill has reached and the commencement date(s) of each act.

ACT PASSED

Credit Institutions (FinancialSupport) Act 2008

Number: 18/2008
Contents note: Makes provision, in the public interest, for maintaining the stability of the financial system in the state and, for that purpose, provides for financial support by the Minister for Finance to credit institutions. Enables the minister to guarantee, up to 29/9/2010, the borrowings, liabilities and obligations to the Central Bank or any person of any credit institution or subsidiary that the minister may specify by order. Amends the Competition Act 2002 in relation to a merger or acquisition involving a credit institution. Makes consequential amendments to other enactments and provides for related matters.
Date enacted: 2/10/2008
Commencement date: ‘Relevant date’ is defined in the act as 30/9/2008, the date from which – for a two-year period – the minister may provide financial support to credit institutions. Regulations to be made for bringing the act into operation (per s5 of the act)

SELECTED STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 (Sections 23A and 23B) Regulations 2008

Number: SI 363/2008
Contents note: Sections 23A and 23B of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994, as amended by the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2008, provide for the issue of fixed-charge notices in respect of offences committed under section 5 (disorderly conduct in a public place) and section 4 (intoxication in a public place) of the act. These regulations set the levels of the fixed charges, €140 and €100 respectively, and the format of the fixed-charge notice.
Commencement date: 10/9/2008

European Communities (Directive 2006/100/EC) (Recognition of Bulgarian and Romanian Medical Qual-ifications) Regulations 2008

Number: SI 393/2008
Contents note: Amend the definition of directive 2005/36/EC, which is provided for in section 2 of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007, to include the amendment of that directive by directive 2006/100/EC. The effect of this amendment is to allow for the recognition of medical qualifications of Romanian and Bulgarian medical practitioners by the Medical Council under the provisions of the 2007 act.
Commencement date: 26/9/2008

Finance Act 2008 (Commencement of Section 46) Order 2008

Number: SI 397/2008
Contents note: Appoints 9/10/2008 as the commencement date for section 46. This section provides for the introduction of a scheme of accelerated capital allowances for expenditure incurred by a company on certain energy-efficient equipment for the purposes of a trade carried on by that company.

Official Languages Act 2003 (Section 9) Regulations 2008

Number: SI 391/2008
Contents note: Provide for the use of the Irish language only, or the Irish and English languages together, on recorded oral announcements, stationery and signage of public bodies. A number of exemptions are detailed in the regulations. Provide for a number of different dates from 1/3/2009 to 1/1/2026 on which the various provisions provided for in the regulations shall come into effect.

Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2008 (Section 27) (Commencement) (No 2) Order 2008

Number: SI 398/2008
Contents note: Appoints 1/11/2008 as the commencement date for section 27 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2008, other than insofar as section 27 relates to the insertion of section 64P into the Pensions Act 1990. Section 27 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2008 amends the Pensions Act 1990 and inserts a new part VIA, ‘Registered administrators’, into the Pensions Act 1990 in order to bring registered administrators of pension schemes within the remit of the act in relation to certain core functions that they perform on behalf of trustees of pension schemes. Revokes an earlier section 27 commencement order (SI 277/2008).

Taxi Regulation Act 2003 (Maximum Fares) Order 2008

Number: SI 394/2008
Contents note: Sets the new national maximum fares that may be charged throughout the country. Revokes the previous maximum fares order (SI 438/2006).
Commencement date: 1/11/2008

Waste Management (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) (Amendment) Regulations 2008

Number: SI 375/2008
Contents note: Amend the Waste Management (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Regulations 2005 (SI 340/2005) (WEEE regulations).
Commencement date: 23/9/2008

Prepared and reproduced by kind permission of the Law Society Library