Search results : 103

The European Court of Human Rights has once again ruled in favour of freedom of expression, this time regarding an interview on television. The Court considered the conviction of a journalist, Mr. Colaço Mestre and of the broadcasting company, Sociedade Independente de Comunicação (SIC), as a violation of the freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 10 of the Convention. In 1996, as part of a television programme entitled Os donos da bola (masters of the ball), SCI broadcast an interview conducted by Mr. Colaço Mestre with Gerhard Aigner, who at the time was General...

On 30 October 2006, the minister responsible for the media sector , Augusto Ernesto Santos Silva, signed an official communication in the Diário da República (Official Journal), containing the list of events which must be broadcast by national terrestrial open access television channels. According to the Television Act (Act 32/2003 of 22 August 2003, Article 28), the Government should publish annually a list of important events that cannot be exclusively broadcast by non-national restricted access channels. The official communication (despacho nº22025/2006 ) comprises only sports events, particularly...

On 16 November 2006, the Portuguese Council of Ministers approved a Draft Television Bill. The Bill was open for public consultation until 15 December 2006 and aims at replacing both Act nº32/2003 of 22 August 2003 and Decree-Law nº237/98 of 5 August 1998. With this Draft the Government intends to detail the legal criteria for the granting and renewal of TV licenses, to adapt the legislation to technological changes (namely the introduction of Digital Terrestrial TV), to abolish the existing differences between the public service obligations imposed on state-owned channels (thus re-incorporating...

On 30 October 2006, the Portuguese president Aníbal Cavaco Silva promulgated Decree-Law 227/2006 of 15 November 2006 which implements Act 42/2004 of 18 August 2004 (the Cinematographic and Audiovisual Arts Act). This new Decree-Law details support programmes for the creation, production, distribution, and exhibition of cinematographic works and sets out the legal framework for the implementation of the Cinema and Audiovisual Investment Fund. This fund will exist for seven years (Article 65, nº1) and its financial endowment for the first five years is set at EUR 100 million (Article 66, nº1). Public...

The European Commission has approved the financial restructuring agreement signed between the Portuguese government and the public service broadcaster RTP in September 2003. This decision was reached after the restructuring plan was found to be in line with EC Treaty state aid rules. The agreement will run until 2019 and aims to progressively reduce RTP’s EUR 1 billion debt which was accumulated as a result of long-term under-financing of its public service tasks. Three reasons were found to have caused this chronic shortage of financial resources: the annual compensations payments received by...