On behalf of the Government, the Minister of Public Administration and Justice presented to Parliament the proposed amendments to certain laws related to media services and press products. The Ministry announced already in April that, in acknowledgement of the decision of the Constitutional Court, they would present the proposed amendments to the legislation in order to achieve full harmony with the Fundamental Law.

The proposed amendments serve to comply with the decision of the Constitutional Court. As is known, Tibor Navracsics, Minister of Public Administration and Justice announced on 21 March that the Government will seek the Constitutional Court’s detailed interpretation of the provisions of the Fundamental Law concerning the freedom of the press in the context of the December decision of the Constitutional Court which declared certain provisions of the media regulation unconstitutional and determined the date of annulment as 31 May 2012. At the end of the procedure initiated by the Government, however, the Constitutional Court came to the conclusion in its decision in April that the questions raised in the Government’s motion cannot be answered within the competence of the Constitutional Court regarding the interpretation of the Fundamental Law; a decision on these questions falls within the legislator’s responsibility. Accordingly, the Government presented its proposed amendments to Parliament today.

According to the amendments submitted to Parliament, the media authority will not in the future have the power to investigate the enforcement of human rights, human dignity, the right to privacy and the rights of interviewees in the context of content regulation in the case of the written press and Internet media as the already existing means in civil and criminal law available in the Hungarian legal system are sufficient for the protection of these rights.

The proposed amendments reinforce the protection of the information sources of journalists. One proposed amendment allows media content providers and persons engaged in employment or any other work-related legal relationship with them to keep confidential the identity of their source of information. At the same time, the proposed amendment makes it possible for a court of law to oblige the persons above to reveal their information source in the interest of the investigation of criminal offences, in particularly justified cases as defined by law.

The competence of the media commissioner will also undergo changes. According to the relevant proposed amendment, the commissioner’s quasi-authority powers would only be upheld in the area of electronic telecommunication services where, however, issues regarding the restriction of the freedom of the press do not arise. These powers of the commissioner will be abolished in respect of media services and press products; the commissioner will only be able to initiate consultations with the relevant professional organisations on the basis of a complaint and will draft a (non-public) report at the end of his/her investigation. The decision of the Constitutional Court evaluated the publication of the report as a restriction on the freedom of the press. The commissioner may not investigate the activities of media content providers. As the commissioner will not exercise quasi-authority powers in the future in this area, his/her proceedings will not qualify as a restriction on the freedom of the press.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)