Legislation Summary
1. The Official Languages Act 2003
The aim of the Official Languages Act 2003 is to increase and improve in an organised manner, over a period of time, the quantity and quality of services provided by public sector bodies through Irish, by imposing (a) direct service obligations on such bodies, (b) providing for further obligations through Ministerial orders (regulations), and (c) requiring that public bodies prepare a three-year Language Scheme setting out an additional range of locally-relevant services to be provided bilingually.
The Office of the Languages Commissioner is responsible for monitoring compliance with the Act.
Key legal requirements affecting College under the Act and regulations:
- Key reports (Annual Report, Financial Statements to be published bilingually)
- All correspondence received in Irish to be replied to in Irish
- Information (mailshots) in either electronic or printed form which is directed to the general public to be made available bilingually
- Signage: all College signage to be bilingual- Irish to be no less prominent than English and to appear before English
- Stationery: all stationery to be bilingual- Irish to be no less prominent than English and to appear before English
- Recorded oral announcements and voicemails for main telephone numbers to be bilingual (this requirement in force by 1 July 2013)
Certain departments and areas will have specific additional obligations under College's Irish Language scheme.
Further information is available at www.tcd.ie/gaeloifig/en/acht-na-dteangacha-oifigiula/
2. Copyright and Related Rights Acts, 2000 to 2007
The Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000 is the current Irish legislation covering copyright. It makes provision for a Copyright Licensing Scheme, which came into effect on 13 January 2003. The Irish Copyright Licensing Agency is recognised under this legislation as a registered body to operate a licensing scheme for reprographic copying in educational institutions. With the introduction of the licensing scheme, copying of copyright material for educational purposes is only permissible if an educational institution has obtained a licence, or has obtained permission from the Copyright holder. College has a licence agreement with the Irish Copyright Licensing Agency. Details of the extent of copying permitted under the licence, and of the limits and exclusions, are specified in the licence agreement between the ICLA and the College, which are summarised in the ICLA's User Guidelines. These documents and related information are available at www.tcd.ie/info_compliance/copyright/icla.php
Also, please note that it is an offence under the Act to distribute copyright material without authorisation via the internet, either by publishing it on a website or by distributing it to others using file-sharing programmes. Copyright owners constantly monitor the internet, including Trinity's websites, for breaches of the Act. Where copyright infringements have occurred, legal action may be taken not only against the College but also against the individuals concerned. This is a matter which the College takes very seriously and those who distribute unauthorised material via the internet are not only in breach of the Act but also contravene the College's Code of Conduct for the use of computer resources and may have their access to the College's computer facilities withdrawn. Further information is available at www.tcd.ie/info_compliance/copyright/
It should be noted that at present the College does not hold a licence to show films other than what is provided for in legislation. Under the Copyright Related Acts 2000 the College does not infringe the copyright in films shown for educational purposes only. This exemption is quite narrow and does not cover instances where films are shown in College for purposes other than education, this could include society events, sporting events, publicity launches etc. All instances where films are shown for purposes other than educational instruction require the acquisition of a licence from the Copyright holder and therefore it is the sole responsibility of those showing the film to acquire the requisite licence. Those requiring licences should contact the Motion Picture Licensing Company (http://www.mplc.ie), which a legitimate licensing body and are registered with the Copyright Controller (as required by the Act).
3. Freedom of Information Acts 1997 and 2003
The University of Dublin, Trinity College, became a prescribed 'public body' subject to the terms of the Freedom of Information Act, 1997, on 1 October, 2001. The FOI Acts confer new rights and obligations - the main ones are:
(i) the right of access to records;
(ii) the right of access to one's personal information held by public bodies and the right to amend the information where it is incomplete, incorrect or misleading; and
(iii) the right of persons to obtain the reasons for decisions made by public bodies affecting them.
The Acts provide access to information which is not normally available. However this right of access is subject to certain exemptions and restrictions.
The College's information which is covered by the Acts consists of:
- all records created after the commencement of the Act (21 April, 1998) and earlier records if needed to understand these;
- personal records held by the College regardless of when they were made;
- personnel records of current staff created from 21 April, 1995, and earlier personnel records where they are being used or proposed to be used adversely to affect the interests of the individual concerned; and
- the reasons for decisions made by the College from 1 October, 2001, which affect the individual.
In these circumstances, staff members are advised to adhere to good practice when making records of College business. In this regard please see www.tcd.ie/info_compliance/pdfs/foiadv1_records.pdf. Staff should be aware that the FOI Acts apply to any medium of record including e-mails, internal memoranda, manuscript notes, etc. There are no 'private' files for College business.
The College routinely provides access to a substantial amount of its records without the need to submit a formal request under the terms of the FOI Acts. Anyone looking for information should approach the relevant College Office in the first instance. All formal FOI requests should be forwarded to Sinead MacBride, Freedom of Information Officer, information.compliance@tcd.ie (www.tcd.ie/info_compliance/foi/).
4. Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003
The Data Protection legislation currently in force applies to the acquisition, storage and processing of personal information, i.e. information about an identifiable living person. This would include information such as lists of students' names and addresses and copies of letters, memos and related materials about students or others.
All those handling personal information have duties under the Acts to:
(i) obtain and process information fairly;
(ii) keep it only for one or more specified, explicit and lawful purposes;
(iii) use and disclose it only in ways compatible with these purposes;
(iv) keep it safe and secure;
(v) keep it accurate, complete and up-to-date;
(vi) ensure that it is adequate, relevant and not excessive;
(vii) retain it for no longer than is necessary for the purpose or purposes; and
(viii) give a copy of his/her personal data to that individual, on request.
A feature of the 2003 Act is that structured manual files are now subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Acts. If you store any personal information about people on your computer or on manual files, you should be aware of your responsibilities under Data Protection legislation.
Under the legislation personal information can normally ONLY be provided to the person to whom it relates. In providing people with personal information, you should be satisfied that the person is who they say they are by, for example, viewing their student card, etc.Further information is available at www.tcd.ie/info_compliance/dp/.
5. The Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998
The Child Trafficking and Pornography Act came into force in 1998. In order to take every possible precaution to ensure that our computer systems are not used to access pornographic material and to ensure that the College, and its Officers, are not open to allegations of negligence of duty under this Act, I am contacting you to remind you of the main provisions and penalties of the Act.
Under the terms of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 it is an offence to knowingly:
(i) produce, distribute, print or publish child pornography and to knowingly import, export, sell, show or advertise child pornography
(ii) cause or facilitate, or encourage, any of these activities
(iii) be in possession of any child pornography.
The provisions of this Act cover the storing, viewing or distribution of child pornography on any computer system. Persons found guilty of any of the above offences are liable to a fine and/or prison sentence. Any staff or student member of the College found to be in breach of the provisions of this Act shall be immediately reported to the Gardaí.
6. Defamation Act 2009
The law relating to defamation has changed significantly since the passing of the Defamation Act 2009. It abolished the old distinction between libel and slander. Instead, it provides that defamation consists of the publication, by any means, of a defamatory statement concerning a person to at least one other person, and it defines a defamatory statement as one that tends to injure a person’s reputation in the eyes of reasonable members of society.
Everyone involved in the publication of a defamatory statement is liable to be sued - including the journalist, editor or producer, owner and distributor. Repetition of a defamatory remark may give rise to separate actions, and the complainant may sue everybody who repeats the defamatory statement. In particular, those are responsible for websites can be liable for the defamatory content on the website, even if posted there by others.
The defences upon which a defendant can rely have been expanded by the new Act. Particular attention is drawn to Section 24 of the Act which provides that an apology will not constitute an express or implied admission of liability and is not relevant to the determination of liability in an action. The fact that an apology has been made will not be admissible in any civil proceedings as evidence of liability of the defendant. However, the Act provides that an offer of apology is one of the factors that the Court shall take into account in making an award of damages.
7. The Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010
The Act which was signed into law on 19 July 2010 and took effect on 1 January 2011 enables same-sex couples to obtain legal recognition of their relationship by registering their civil partnership. From an employment perspective, the Act effectively gives same-sex civil partners the same rights as married couples.
The Act substitutes the term civil status for marital status prohibiting discrimination against a person in employment matters on the grounds that they are (or alternatively are not) in a registered civil partnership. Civil status means in each case, one of the following: being single, married, separated, divorced, widowed, in a civil partnership or formerly being in a civil partnership that has ended by death or has been dissolved. Similar to the changes made to Employment Equality Acts, all College policies which previously referred to marital status have been amended to reflect the changes and practice in legislation.