Charter of Peoples' Rights to Journalism

Definition 

Discussion

COUNCIL OF EUROPE

COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

to Recommendation No. R (00) 7 [1]

of the Committee of Ministers to member states

on the right of journalists not to disclose their sources of information

(Adopted by the Committee of Ministerson 8 March 2000

at the 701st meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)

13.       In some member States, domestic laws provide a definition of who is a journalist. The Recommendation does not intend to alter those laws, but sets out a number of factual requirements for the purposes of this Recommendation:

            (i)         A journalist is typically a natural person. The holder of the information provided by the source may be, however, not only the journalists themselves but also their employers. Therefore, legal entities like publishing companies or news agencies are also to be protected like "journalists" under this Recommendation. The European Court of Human Rights recognised in its judgment De Haes and Gijsels v. Belgium (24 February 1997) that the editor of a journal and the journalist working for this journal would qualify in the same way for the right not to disclose a source under Article 10 of the Convention.

            (ii)        The MM-S-HR was of the opinion that a certain occupational tendency should be required, i.e. a journalist typically works regularly and receives some form of remuneration for his or her work. Therefore, the Recommendation uses the terms "regularly or professionally engaged". This must not exclude, however, journalists who work freelance or part-time, are at the beginning of their professional career, or work on an independent investigation over some time. Professional accreditation or membership is not necessary. Nevertheless, individuals who otherwise would not regard themselves as being journalists shall not qualify as journalists for the purposes of this Recommendation. The latter category may include, for example, individuals who write letters to the editor in the print media, appear as guests on broadcasting programmes or participate in discussion fora in computer-based media. The MM-S-HR took into account the history of this protection and paid attention to the fact that the protection of sources is a vital prerequisite for the work of the media in a democratic society, but not for all forms of communication by individuals. A limitation of this protection to journalists in the above sense will also facilitate the balancing of possible conflicting rights and values foreseen in Principle 3.

            (iii)       The term "collection and dissemination (...) to the public via any means of mass communication" shall refer to the fact that information is made available to the public at large or to a wider and open group of recipients, like subscribers, customers or members. Persons engaged in the creation and dissemination of personalised correspondence or advertisements are not meant hereby. All kinds of communication techniques can be used, including non-periodical publications and audiovisual works. Therefore, press journalists, photo journalists, radio journalists, audiovisual journalists and journalists working for computer-based media are equally included.

[1] https://rm.coe.int/16805e2c13