Just in case there is anyone who has missed, or misunderstood, my rather long running, but sadly necessary concerns about the unique libel amendments to Carmarthenshire Council's Constitution, I have clarified matters in this email sent to councillors a couple of days ago;
'Dear Councillor,
I write with concern that, after a considerable amount of time and research, I find that Carmarthenshire County Council has, in fact, broken the law. I refer, yet again, to the decision to amend the Constitution to fund council officers in libel actions. I was also a little concerned that some Councillors who have contacted me remain unaware of the decision itself let alone the illegality. Should the Council, or rather the Chief Executive, the Head of Law and the Head of Resources (as they have Delegated power to commence libel proceedings without any reference to elected members) decide to go ahead with such unlawful proceedings with public funds they would also be acting beyond their powers.
Apart from the issues of illegality, questionable morality, the threat to democracy, the threat to free speech and the potential for abuse of the amendment by using this power to silence criticism of the council as a whole (it is also against the law for a governing body to sue for libel), there is also the issue of cost. Councillors may or may not be aware of the high cost of libel proceedings (even specialist advice, which the council has sought but not disclosed is far from cheap) consequently the potential financial risk to public money is substantial.
I would therefore ask members to consider this when discussing 'budget cuts' in forthcoming meetings and seminars.
To re-iterate, the decision taken to amend the Constitution in May 2008, passed by Council, was illegal and should be removed forthwith.
If anyone would like further information regarding this, please contact me.
Yours sincerely'
I also sent a copy of this, with an additional message shown below, to the Chief Executive, Mark James and the Head of Administration and Law, Mr Lyn Thomas, I await their response....and so do a few others...
'The following email has been sent today to Carmarthenshire County Councillors. I am very concerned that the Council's action to amend the Constitution in May 2008 to fund officer's claims for libel has now been proved to be illegal. I trust you have now fully realised this.
Before further action becomes necessary, I would like your immediate reassurance that urgent measures will be taken to retract this amendment and an investigation begun as to how this unlawful decision was made in the first instance;
I await your response
Yours Sincerely'
Many more relevant posts throughout this blog (please use search box) including;
http://carmarthenplanning.blogspot.com/2010/10/carmarthenshire-council-and-libel-chill.html
'Dear Councillor,
I write with concern that, after a considerable amount of time and research, I find that Carmarthenshire County Council has, in fact, broken the law. I refer, yet again, to the decision to amend the Constitution to fund council officers in libel actions. I was also a little concerned that some Councillors who have contacted me remain unaware of the decision itself let alone the illegality. Should the Council, or rather the Chief Executive, the Head of Law and the Head of Resources (as they have Delegated power to commence libel proceedings without any reference to elected members) decide to go ahead with such unlawful proceedings with public funds they would also be acting beyond their powers.
Apart from the issues of illegality, questionable morality, the threat to democracy, the threat to free speech and the potential for abuse of the amendment by using this power to silence criticism of the council as a whole (it is also against the law for a governing body to sue for libel), there is also the issue of cost. Councillors may or may not be aware of the high cost of libel proceedings (even specialist advice, which the council has sought but not disclosed is far from cheap) consequently the potential financial risk to public money is substantial.
I would therefore ask members to consider this when discussing 'budget cuts' in forthcoming meetings and seminars.
To re-iterate, the decision taken to amend the Constitution in May 2008, passed by Council, was illegal and should be removed forthwith.
If anyone would like further information regarding this, please contact me.
Yours sincerely'
I also sent a copy of this, with an additional message shown below, to the Chief Executive, Mark James and the Head of Administration and Law, Mr Lyn Thomas, I await their response....and so do a few others...
'The following email has been sent today to Carmarthenshire County Councillors. I am very concerned that the Council's action to amend the Constitution in May 2008 to fund officer's claims for libel has now been proved to be illegal. I trust you have now fully realised this.
Before further action becomes necessary, I would like your immediate reassurance that urgent measures will be taken to retract this amendment and an investigation begun as to how this unlawful decision was made in the first instance;
I await your response
Yours Sincerely'
Many more relevant posts throughout this blog (please use search box) including;
http://carmarthenplanning.blogspot.com/2010/10/carmarthenshire-council-and-libel-chill.html
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