Bosnian Court’s Call for Crime Reporting Laws Criticised

Media experts have criticised the Bosnian State Court’s request for a new law regulating media reporting on criminal cases, calling it an unwarranted attempt to interfere with journalists’ reporting and work.

Media expert Mehmed Halilovic said the State Court’s call for regulations on media reporting “lacked foundation”.

“The way of journalists’ reporting and work cannot be determined by laws, even when it comes to reporting on criminal proceedings. This is primarily a matter of the profession and of the responsibility of professionals,” Halilovic said.

The State Court on Wednesday asked the legislature to prepare laws containing rules on media reporting on criminal proceedings, to bring more order to this segment of the media’s activities in a clear and unambiguous manner.

The court said tighter regulation was needed because of increasingly unprofessional reports on cases conducted before the court.

Besides the adoption of laws, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina also requested the Communications Regulatory Agency to supplement its normative framework on reporting on court proceedings, to “correct the identified irregularities”.

The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which monitors the work of the judiciary, said work of the courts had to be transparent and responsible to citizens in all crime proceedings, particularly those covering war crimes, organized crimes, corruption and terrorism.

“The OSCE Mission strongly objects to any sort of unjustified legal restrictions for journalists in performing their function of informing the public,” it said.

“The right to information is guaranteed according to the current regulatory framework, as well as international conventions that should be observed at all times,” the OSCE added.

The president of the State Court, Ranko Debevec, told BIRN that this problem could be dealt with by certain bylaws referring to CRA and said the court’s announcement referred to deficiencies in reporting on ongoing criminal proceedings and attacks against judges managing those proceedings.

“We know what freedom of expression is and the extent to which it can go,” Judge Debevec said.

“But commenting on first-instance verdicts passed down by judges, saying they are shameful, or correct, which many media outlets do, is completely absurd,” Debevec added.

“The court … and the judiciary in general, should organize education, instead of calling on international organizations, which really do a good part of that job, about it,” he said.

The EU Delegation to Bosnia said improving interaction between the judiciary and the media was a two-way process that implied responsibility on both sides.

“It is necessary to improve the quality and objectivity of reporting, including responsibility for incorrect reporting, while ensuring freedom of expression, as well as responsibility of judges and prosecutors,“ the delegation said.

Some parliamentarians, meanwhile, told BIRN they backed the legal regulation of media reporting on criminal cases, but admitted that such initiatives were unlikely to get far with elections due in around two weeks.

“Who would be against legal regulation of any field in the country, where the situation in all fields is chaotic, including media reporting? MP Dusanka Majkic asked.

“Any regulation of this subject might be beneficial for citizens, because reporting is primarily done for their sake and its legal regulation might help,” the parliamentarian added.

But Majkic said it was too late to do it now, as the current parliamentary term had practically ended, adding that the task could not be completed by the Council of Ministers either, right now.

Another parliament member Semsudim Mehmedovic agreed.

“It would certainly be desirable to regulate this field. However, we cannot realistically expect the current parliament to adopt anything, given the relations that exist between its members, and the lack of qualified parliamentary majority, as well as the election campaign that is in full swing,” Mehmedovic said.