Summary
The state should ensure that all public regulatory agencies are independent and protected from interference.
Election Parts
Quotes
- Any public authority that exercises powers in the areas of broadcast or telecommunications regulation should be independent and adequately protected against interference, particularly of a political or economic nature.
- Calls on member states to: provide the legal, political, financial, technical and other means necessary to ensure the independent functioning of broadcasting regulatory authorities, so as to remove risks of political or economic interference.
- Calls on member states to: provide the legal, political, financial, technical and other means necessary to ensure genuine editorial independence and institutional autonomy of public service broadcasting organisations, so as to remove any risk of political or economic interference.
- Public service broadcasting, whether run by public organisations or privately-owned companies, differs from broadcasting for purely commercial or political reasons because of its specific remit, which is essentially to operate independently of those holding economic and political power.
- Member states should ensure that there is an effective and manifest separation between the exercise of control of media and decisions making as regards to media content and the exercise of political authority or influence.
- The independence of the [media regulatory] authorities and bodies referred to in the previous paragraph should be guaranteed by ensuring that they have open and transparent appointment and dismissal procedures; have adequate human and financial resources and autonomous budget allocation; function according to transparent procedures and decision making; are open to communication with the public; have the power to take autonomous, proportionate decisions and enforce them effectively and that their decisions are subject to appeal.
- States should adopt specific measures to protect the editorial independence and operational autonomy of public service media by limiting the influence of the State. The supervisory and management boards of public service media should be able to operate in a fully independent manner and the rules governing their composition and appointment procedures should be transparent and contain adequate checks and balances to ensure their independence.
- Any State body which has regulatory or other competence over Internet matters carries out its activities free from political or commercial interference, in a transparent manner and protects and promotes Internet freedom.
- Accordingly, the Assembly calls on member States to review, where necessary, their regulatory frameworks governing media coverage of election campaigns, in order to bring them into line with Council of Europe standards, ensuring in particular that they: (...) 8.11. enhance the operational capacities of media regulators which must be independent of the political and economic powers; in this regard: 8.11.1. ensure that the composition of these bodies is politically neutral and based on media expertise and competence.
- The Assembly therefore calls for greater commitment to safeguard journalists’ security and freedom and to uphold media pluralism and independence. It recommends that the Council of Europe member States: (…) 7.5. ensure transparency of the operation of regulatory bodies; the provisions for their appointment, mandate and powers must secure their independence from any influence, especially from governments.
- Any administrative body which has the power to oversee rules relating to the media during election periods should be independent of the government and its decisions should be subject to timely judicial review.
- The implementation of legislation, policies and practices relevant to political parties shall be undertaken by competent state authorities, including government bodies and courts, that act in an impartial manner and are free from partisan influence, both in law and in practice. Such authorities shall also ensure that political parties, as well as the public at large, have relevant information as to their procedures and functioning, which shall be easy to understand and comply with.
- The Internet, at both the global and national levels, should be overseen only by bodies which are protected against government, political and commercial interference, just as freedom from such interference is already universally acknowledged in the area of the print and broadcast media.
- All public authorities which exercise formal regulatory powers over the media should be protected against interferences, particularly of a political or economic nature, including by an appointments process for members which is transparent, allows for public input and is not controlled by any particular political party.
- Broadcast regulators and governing bodies should be so constituted as to protect themselves against political and commercial interference.
- Regulation of the media to promote diversity, including governance of public media, is legitimate only if it is undertaken by a body which is protected against political and other forms of unwarranted interference, in accordance with international human rights standards.
- International law provides that everyone is entitled to an effective remedy by a competent national tribunal for a violation of a fundamental right…There is good authority for the proposition that, where an administrative (as opposed to a judicial) remedy is the only remedy available, the agency that decides the complaint must be independent of the agency that is the subject of the complaint…The above precedents provide sound support for the contention that international law, bolstered by UN guidelines, requires establishment of a body to regulate election broadcasts that is independent of government as well as the media, and which is subject to judicial review.
- States should refrain from adopting models of regulation where government agencies, rather than judicial authorities, become the arbiters of lawful expression. They should avoid delegating responsibility to companies as adjudicators of content, which empowers corporate judgment over human rights values to the detriment of users.
- Any regulatory mechanisms, whether for electronic or print media, should be independent of all political parties and function at an arms-length relationship to Government; access to technology, newsprint, printing facilities and distribution points should only be regulated by the supply and demand of the free market.
- An independent oversight agency must be free from political pressure. To achieve this, governments can make the agency directly accountable to parliament, create a competitive and meritocratic system of public appointments, and empower it to receive, investigate and report on complaints received from members of the public. To enforce compliance effectively, the agency needs the resources to operate at speed and scale.