Bulgaria

[BG] Report on legal aspects of the freedom of expression in the electronic media

IRIS 1996-8:1/27

Ad van Loon

European Audiovisual Observatory

Upon the request of the Joint Parliamentary Committee EU-Bulgaria, Mr Georgi Sarakinov of the Bulgarian Center for the Study of Democracy wrote a report on legal aspects of the freedom of expression in the electronic media. The report was discussed in the third meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, which took place from 24-26 July 1996.

The report discusses the history of the freedom of expression and distribution of information articles which are laid down in the Bulgarian Constitution of 13 June 1991 (Art. 39-41) and their interpretation by the Constitutional Court. The articles and the constitutional case law are compared with Article 10 of the European Convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms (which guarantees the freedom of expression and the right to communicate information) and the relevant case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Furthermore, the report discusses the constitutionality of the Bulgarian rules relating to the broadcast media.