07. 04. 2014

ANEM WELCOMES THE DECISION OF CONSTITUTIONAL COURT DETERMINING DISPUTED PROVISIONS OF THE LAW ON CINEMATOGRAPHY UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Belgrade, April 7, 2014 - The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) welcomes the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia, which found unconstitutional the provisions of the Law on Cinematography which have infringed on the system of financing, as the key element of independence of regulatory bodies for broadcasting and electronic communications. The Constitutional Court in this case made a decision on an initiative submitted by ANEM in late May 2012.

The unconstitutional provisions of the Law on Cinematography envisaged that funds for the support of domestic cinematography be provided, under certain conditions, from compensation paid by radio and television stations in Serbia to the Republic Broadcasting Agency, as well as from  compensation   that public telecommunication operators pay on various basis to RATEL.

ANEM cited in the initiative, among other things, the existing international standards of human and minority rights in the field of the protection of freedom of expression, defined by the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe no. 23 of 2000 on the independence and functions of regulatory authorities for the broadcasting sector. According to the Recommendation, funding represents a key element of the independence of regulatory bodies and should be regulated by law in accordance with a clearly defined plan. The same Recommendation further states that public authorities shall not exercise their jurisdiction regarding financing in a way that would interfere with the independence of regulatory bodies, as well as that the funding mechanisms of regulatory bodies shall not depend on anyone's ad-hoc decisions.

This is the third important victory that ANEM has achieved in the past six months before the Constitutional Court. Previously, a provision of the Law on Protection of the Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities was declared unconstitutional which stated that the state may, along with the public service broadcaster, found radio and television stations which would broadcast programs in languages ​​of national minorities. Another provision declared unconstitutional was one of the of the Law on National Councils of National Minorities which opened space for the obstruction of the mandatory privatization of state media by providing that the minority government media, instead of being privatized, could be transferred to the national councils of national minorities.

ANEM will continue its activities aimed at removing obstacles that stand in the way of media reforms in Serbia, with the aim to strengthen the independence of regulatory bodies and the withdrawal of the state from media ownership as a prerequisite for advancing the position of private media in the country, and especially minority private media, as well as the activities aimed at improving the legal framework in a way that will encourage media pluralism and media freedom.

ANEM President, Milorad Tadic