30. 09. 2011

THE FIFTH ANEM MONITORING PUBLICATION

The fifth issue of ANEM Publication "Legal monitoring of the Serbian media scene" deals with media issues important to the media and journalists' situation.

The Publication contains:

Introduction (with summarized results of legal monitoring of the Serbian media scene in January-September 2011 and a short review of the Publication's contents),

4 expert authors' texts:

• Application of the European Court of Human Rights case-law before the Serbian courts - author: Slobodan Kremenjak, attorney at law (the author writes about the obligation of Serbian courts to apply the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, the reasons for its non-application and importance of this case - law for the proper settlement of disputes in cases relating to the freedom of expression)

• Decriminalization of defamation and insult - author: Kruna Savovic, attorney at law (the author analyzes the extent to which the announced decriminalization of defamation and insult would actually contribute to the improvement of the position of media and journalists, as well as what else is needed so that these amendments to the Criminal Code take real effect in respect of exercising freedom of expression.)

• Challenges of the Digitalization Process - authors: Milena Jocic and Milos Stojkovic, advisors in the Ministry of Culture, Media and Information Society (the authors deal with the important transition process - digital TV transition, challenges in this process and announced modifications in its implementation giving answers to some of questions and concerns that have appeared in public in this regard)

• Some Controversies and Dilemmas in the Adoption of the Serbian Media Strategy - author: Doc Dejan Milenkovic, PhD (this text refers to the most important document of the media sector, the Media Strategy, which, apparently, will not symbolize the consensus of the media sector and the government, but the basis for new distrust and a source of new problematic solutions that will not contribute to the development of the media sector)

and the fifth text, the special addition:

• The European Court of Human Rights, case-law (excerpts from the Information Notes of the European Court of Human Rights, available on the website of the Court) - a brief overview of two judgments of this Court concerning the application of Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: the first refers to the case of publishing the interview verbatim without prior authorization of the interviewee - the court found that the criminal sanctions imposed on the editor of this newspaper, based only on the fact that the article was published without authorization, without considering the truthfulness of the content of the published text and taking into account the attention that was being paid to providing the accuracy that was not called into question, were disproportionate and therefore presented the violation of Article 10 of the European Convention - the right to freedom of expression; the Court ruled that the applicant - the editor needed to be paid the appropriate amount of damages; the second refers to the case of civil liability of a newspaper for defamation made in reporting on court proceedings, namely the paper's committing to pay damages for publishing false information that were likely to harm the honor and reputation of others - the Court said that, in this case, the interference with the applicant's right to freedom of expression had not been necessary in a democratic society for the protection of the reputation of others, given that the said paper had taken all reasonable steps to verify the accuracy of reports on judicial proceedings, and that the journalist - a court reporter, was at all times acting in good faith and in accordance with her duty of responsible reporting, including publication of an apology; noting that in this case there had been a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention - the right to freedom of expression, the Court awarded the applicants with the appropriate amount of damages.

The results of the legal monitoring of the Serbian media scene in the first nine months of 2011 were used in selection of topics for this Publication. According to the findings of the monitoring team, the media in Serbia are still burdened with long-present and well-known problems, which did not see their solutions even in this period. Some of them are the following: case law in media cases, which generally negatively affects the position and rights of media and journalists; the impact of non-media laws on media and journalists in Serbia, which often positively or negatively, but surely significantly change conditions and environment for their work and functioning; the marginalization of important transition processes, the government's delaying the implementation of their legal obligations or their complete disregard of these obligations, with serious consequences for the media sector; lack of responsible public policy in the media sphere and inadequate media regulatory framework, missing the essential strategic document. Texts in this Publication are treating these important media issues.

This Publication was completed two days prior to the telephone session of the Serbian Government, at which the Media Strategy was adopted.

The integral version of this bilingual Fifth Monitoring Publication can be downloaded here