Search results : 78

On 4 November the Conseil d’Etat rejected the application made by a cinematographic distribution company for the cancellation of the classification certificate issued one year earlier by the Minister for Culture for the film Quand l’Embryon Part Braconner that required that the film was not to be shown to anyone under the age of 18 years. The applicant felt that the decision, based on the violent and pornographic nature of the film, was disproportionate and flawed by a manifest error of appreciation. Backed by the national federation of film distributors, the applicant claimed that “the use of...

In its decision of 26 November 2008, the European Commission gave its approval until 31 December 2013 for the Finnish film support scheme with a total budget of EUR 116 million. The aim of the scheme is to support the development, production, distribution and exhibition of Finnish films. Especially (arthouse) cinemas in remote rural areas are said to be under considerable financial pressure and face closure without state support. The aim of the scheme, which is to promote high quality, diverse and original Finnish film production, is to be achieved inter alia by promoting exports and holding film...

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) recently made public four new reports as part of its ongoing monitoring process of the laws, policies and practices to combat racism in the Member States of the Council of Europe (for commentary on earlier reports, see IRIS 2006-6: 4 and IRIS 2005-7: 3). Each of the country reports, which examine the situation in: Monaco (for the first time); Azerbaijan (for the second time) and Finland and Ireland (both in the context of the third monitoring cycle), contain specific recommendations concerning the media. In respect of Monaco, the ECRI...

On 22 February 2007, Valtioneuvoston asetus yhteiskunnallisesti merkittävien tapahtumien televisioinnista (Government Decree concerning the broadcasting of events of major importance to society) was adopted. The Decree entered into force on 1 March 2007. The Decree is based on Section 20 of the Act on Television and Radio Operations (744/1998) as amended by Act 394/2003, and implements Article 3a of the Television without Frontiers Directive (89/552/EEC). With this Decree a list of events has been decided upon, namely those events that are considered to be of such importance to society in Finland...

At the beginning of 2007, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers (CM) adopted five country-specific Resolutions in the context of the Second Monitoring Cycle of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM). The Resolutions contain a number of provisions concerning the (audiovisual) media (for similar provisions in earlier country-specific Resolutions, see IRIS 2006-2: 4). In respect of Finland, the CM notes that radio programmes in minority languages, “while limited in their scope, have become important tools in the promotion and protection of minority cultures”....