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Civil Servants have the right to free speech, says Picardo
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Following reports in Panorama that a Civil Servant has been told to remove her comments from a Facebook page on local politics, the Leader of the GSLP Liberal Opposition, Fabian Picardo, reminds people that free speech is the right of all citizens and must be respected and upheld, in particular by Government.
In a statement today, he says: “It is accepted that Civil Servants should not make public statements about their own departments. However it is a basic human right that they should be able to speak freely on any other issues be it on Facebook or other media outside of working hours. The new types of "social media" which are becoming increasingly popular offer opportunities for expression which have not been so accessible before; and they also create new issues that we as a society have to understand and address.
“If the GSLP Liberals form the next Government we will ensure that no-one in Gibraltar is afraid to speak their mind. As the problem of perceived censorship is seemingly more acute in our Civil Service we shall - in close consultation with Civil Servants and their representatives - establish and implement a specific protocol for guidance on the exercise of the freedom of expression within the public sector that will explicitly set out that public employees are free to exercise their right of free speech on general issues whilst honouring the accepted norm that they do not speak about issues relevant to the work done by their departments. If there is already a clear code on this we shall ensure it is adhered to and that no-one within the Civil Service feels that they are being restricted beyond the terms of any such agreed guidelines.
“In the GSD’s last manifesto under "Citizens Rights – progress so far" that party stated: 'civil service given much greater freedom of political activity and public comment’.
"The recent events reflected in the Panorama reports suggest that there are still clearly problems manifesting themselves in the way that Civil Servants rights to free speech is being curtailed.
"Indeed, more generally, there are instances of people even outside the Civil Service telling the Opposition that they feel unable to make comments which are unfavourable to the GSD for fear of retribution. Not only do I believe that Civil Servants should have their rights of free speech protected (subject to not making public statements about their own departments) but that we have to specifically as a society understand, protect and promote the right of people to disagree with the government and the Chief Minister of the day. That is the beauty of democracy.
"It is true that the existence of such "fears" has been talked about before, when the GSLP were first in Government and even before then. I therefore believe that what Government needs to do is to be the explicit promoter of the freedom of people to express themselves without fear of retribution from the government or any of its agencies.
"If we don't nurture such rights and if the government is perceived as seeking to curtail dissent rather than to encourage debate, we are moving backwards and not forwards. Some people feel that their free speech in Gibraltar is under attack, and we must respond to that by encouraging free speech, so that people feel free to make their views felt on issues.”
30-08-11
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