MURPHY v. IRELAND JUDGMENT 9 The regulation of advertising tends to be based on the general provision that all advertising should be legal, honest, decent and truthful. This is provided for in the codes of standards, practice and prohibitions in advertising, sponsorship and other forms of commercial promotion in broadcasting services which were drawn up under the provisions of section 4(1) of the Broadcasting Act, 1990. The same basic principle is provided in the Code of Advertising Standards for Ireland drawn up by the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland. The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland is a self-regulatory body, which was established by the advertising industry in 1981, and deals with advertising in most media including newspapers, posters and cinema as well as broadcasting. Understandably, the code drawn up under the [UK] Broadcasting Act 1990, does not deal with advertising directed towards a religious end as there is a blanket ban on such advertising. On the other hand, the [Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland] ASAI code specifically excludes advertisements whose principal purpose is to express the advertisers' position on political, religious, industrial relations, social or aesthetic matters or on an issue of public interest or concern from the scope of its code. It is interesting [503] that the [ASAI] decided not to apply its standards to these sensitive areas even though there is no statutory bar against it so doing. It would be extremely difficult to regulate religious advertising in the same way as advertising for goods and services is regulated. How does one determine if an advertisement directed towards a religious end is truthful? No product or service is being sold. While religious advertisers may hold their beliefs with the utmost conviction, the claims made in such advertisements are matters of belief and are not measurable by any objective standard. While I oppose the Bill, I am prepared to look at the policy which it attempts to put in place, that is, a more selective ban on advertising directed towards a religious end. If an appropriate amendment can be developed, I would hope to introduce it on Committee Stage during the passage of the Broadcasting Bill, which I hope to publish in the immediate future... . In considering an amendment, I will have to have regard for many of the issues raised in the judgments which I quoted earlier. These issues include in particular in relation to matters of such sensitivity, that rich men should not be able to buy access to the airwaves to the detriment of their poorer rivals; the provisions of Article 40 of the Constitution conferring a right to communicate and the right of citizens to express freely their convictions and opinions will be clearly respected, and the provisions of Article 44 of the Constitution which guarantee freedom of conscience and the free profession of and practice of religion to every citizen subject to public order and morality and which prohibit any imposition by the State of any disabilities or the making of any discrimination on the grounds of religious profession, belief or status will also be respected. To achieve these aims it will be necessary to give consideration to devising fair procedures and natural justice measures to ensure that the body charged with regulating such advertisements will uphold and be seen to uphold these rights. It may be that if we are to consider relaxing the existing total ban on broadcast advertising directed towards a religious end, we must inevitably consider the removal of the prohibition of the ban in its entirety rather than the introduction of a more selective prohibition. Given the concerns which I have already mentioned, it may be the only safe way to proceed. However such a step cannot be taken lightly. To proceed