Source: "Blic"
RODOLJUB SABIC Commissioner for Information
The biggest attention in the Proposal of Amendments of the Law on Information deserve provisions that due to decrease of equity or blockade of the company account envisage obligation of the publisher to stop issuing his paper, under threat of fine up to even 20 million dinars. I think that these and all the other provisions envisaging limit in issuing newspapers must be envisaged in the context of Article 10 of European Human Rights Convention and the European Human Rights Court. The Convention provisions, which guarantee the freedom of expression and the practice of the Strasbourg Court have already defined the freedom of expression, because they include certain obligations and responsibilities. These can be limited, but only under assumption of cumulative fulfillment of all three conditions. As first, that the sanctions, conditions, measures and the like have been envisaged by the law.
Second, that they are applied in order to protect interests determined in advance, like public safety, prevention of disorder and crime, protection of health and morale, repute and rights of others, prevention of spreading secret information and preservation of authority and independence of the judiciary. And the third thing, that their undertaking is necessary in a democratic society. In the light of the need to fulfill those conditions, one must respect the possibility, that is, justification of limitation of the freedom of expression, based on norms of financial nature, which are with some other adequate sanctions logical to expect in the laws on taxes or companies, and not in the Public Informing Act.
