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...