Romania

[RO] Communiqué on Secret Recordings of Prominent Figures

IRIS 2002-6:1/33

Mariana Stoican

Journalist, Bucharest

On 11 April, the Consiliul National al Audiovizualului (National Audiovisual Council - CNA) issued a communiqué dealing with the secret filming of prominent figures.

It took this step after a famous Romanian TV presenter was followed by a reporter for several weeks without her knowledge or consent, and was even filmed in her own bedroom. The recordings were sold as still pictures to a magazine and broadcast on a private TV channel on 10 April.

In its communiqué, the CNA ruled that the secret filming had breached the provisions of Article 2, paragraph 1 of Act no. 48/1992 on the activities of the audiovisual media in Romania. This Article protects personal dignity, honour and privacy and the individual's right to his or her own image. The CNA decided, in accordance with Articles 39 and 40 of the Act, to refer the case to the criminal prosecution authorities. In the CNA's view, the right to privacy was a fundamental human right, enshrined in the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. It stated that "the broadcast by a television company of pictures filmed without the person's consent, whereby such pictures breach the person's privacy in their own home, is unacceptable and creates a dangerous precedent".