Croatia

[HR] Government Proposed new Law on Croatian RadioTelevision

IRIS 2003-1:1/19

Kresimir Macan

HRT, Croatian Radiotelevision, Zagreb

On 5 December 2002 the Croatian Government proposed a Draft Law on Hrvatska Radiotelevizija (HRT - Croatian RadioTelevision) and introduced the legislative procedure by forwarding it to the Croatian Parliament.

The draft Law determines that HRT should form one integral public institution instead of two as envisaged by the current Law, but shall be split into three organizational units: Television, Radio and Music Production. The governing bodies of the HRT shall be: HRT Council, HRT General Manager and HRT Management Board. The HRT Council will be composed of 11 persons, selected on the basis of a public advertisement of the position and approved by the Parliament for a four-year term. Half of the Council will rotate every two years. Persons holding a political position (including Parliamentary deputies) will not be allowed to be members. The HRT Council will have the competence to elect the General Manager, also based upon public advertisement, for a four-year term, and to pass the HRT Statute. After that, the main task of the HRT Council will be the supervision of the implementation of guidelines for programming. The General Manager will propose his/her candidates for the directors of organizational units to the HRT Council. The HRT Management Board, which is the body responsible for the day-to-day management, will be composed of the General Manager, the directors of organisational units and one representative of the HRT employees. The organizational units' Directors of Radio and Television shall propose their candidates for the posts of Program Directors and Editor-in-chief of news and current affairs to the HRT Council, chosen upon a public advertisement and based on prior consent of the HRT journalists.

The Law is expected to be passed by the Croatian Parliament in early February 2003.