Conference paper
Role of Law and Legal Institutions in the Creation of Independent Media
Vesna Alaburić
Abstract
Laws can help on three levels to realize the freedom of the media: through legislation,
judicial protection, and self-regulation. Although the present laws in Croatia are on the
whole compatible with those in democratic European countries, there is certainly room
for improvement in many respects. For instance, there is the discrepancy between the
Information Act and the Penal Code. Contrary to the provisions of the Public Information
Act, a journalist can be prosecuted according to the Penal Code and sentenced to a
prison term for slander, even when what he/she published was true, or if he/she published
a negative value judgement offending someone’s reputation. The legal protection
of the journalists’ freedoms is not very effective when it comes to the provisions
guaranteeing access to information. Owing to the nature of their job, journalists have
no time to sue the responsible persons in bodies of authority who deprive them of the
right of access to information. The Penal Code does not quite recognize the institute of
the right of the public to information and prohibits the publication of information labelled
confidential or secret, even if it transpires that the public has the right to be informed.
Law can help journalists in the following ways: by informing them of their
rights and obligations, by providing professional assistance in the preparation of journalistic
texts (for instance, by checking the accuracy of the information), by the establishment
and control of work of self-regulating bodies. The precondition for the freedom
of the media, is, on the one hand, a democratic political environment and civilized
political communication, and, on the other hand, high professional standards
propagated by journalists themselves, which means their readiness to continue to fight
for freedom.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
26299
URI
Publication date:
12.12.2000.
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