Country: Luxembourg
PRIMARY EXPLANATIONS
A Code of Deontology, in the manner of a Charter, has to be intelligible for professionals of media as well as for the audience. Nevertheless, it needs to be complete enough in order to cover different aspects of the media in order to give the Press Council the instruments necessary for assuming a co- or even a self-regulatory function. Therefore, the Code has to be inclusive enough to work as a guideline for the Luxembourgian press without its intelligibility suffering from the volume and the complexity of the articles.
In addition, the Code has to evolve. The development of the Code is assured by additional directives completing the original ones. The Press Council ordains these directives in a General Assembly either of its own initiative or following a suggestion from the Complaints Commission. These directives facilitate the interpretation as well as the application of the different dispositions of the Code.
In the Part I of the Code, the Press Council presents the standards and the rules of professional ethics. In the Part II, it puts forward recommendations and directives useful in the application of the Code. In the Part III, the Press Council produces commentaries article by article.
CODE OF DEONTOLOGY
Preamble
Freedom of the press is the main guarantee for the freedom of expression, without which the protection of other fundamental civil rights could not be guaranteed. However, we must bear in mind that exercising these liberties includes duties and responsibilities.
The press has to have the right to compile and to publish, without restriction, information and commentaries to ensure the formation of public opinion.
In reference to Article 24 of the modified Luxembourgian Constitution, guaranteeing the freedom of the press,
in consideration of Article 10 of the Convention of the safeguard of civil rights and the fundamental liberties, signed in Rome on November 4, 1950 and approved by the law of August 29 1953, guaranteeing everyone the freedom of expression which includes the freedom of opinion and the freedom to receive and to communicate information or ideas without any interference from public authorities and without consideration of frontiers,
taking into consideration the first article of the law of June 8, 2004 on the freedom of expression in the media, assuring the freedom of expression in the domain of the media,
in application of Article 23 of this law establishing the Press Council and charging it with the elaboration and the publication of a Code of Deontology defining the rights and duties of journalists and editors,
the Press Council, in the General Assembly of March 28, 2006, has established the present Code of Deontology.
PART I.
CHAPTER I – THE FIELD OF APPLICATION AND THE OBJECT OF THE CODE OF DEONTOLOGY
Art. 1 Field of application
The dispositions of the Code of Deontology concern every member of the Luxembourgian press and all media governed by the law.
Those concerned by the Code of Deontology are notably the individuals governed by the law of June 8, 2006 on the freedom of expression in the media, hereafter referred to as the law, under the terms of editor, journalist or collaborator.
Editors are engaged in making the present Code known and respected by their collaborators.
The media concerned by the Code are notably the written press and the audiovisual and electronic media.
Art. 2 Object
The Code of Deontology establishes inherent rules for applying the freedom of expression in the media.
It allows the Press Council to exercise its mission of auto regulation and informing appointed to it by the law.
CHAPTER II – THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF THE PRESS IN GENERAL
Art. 3 The freedom of expression
Journalists and editors are engaged in defending the freedom of information and the rights implied by it, the freedom of commentary and critique, as well as the independence and the dignity of the profession.
Art. 4 Exactitude and truthfulness
a) The press is engaged in applying the utmost rigour in the research of information and in verifying its truthfulness.
In case of doubt concerning the truthfulness of facts or information of great interest to the audience, the press sees to it being presented with the necessary reserve.
b) The information and affirmations that after publication emerge to be untruthful or inexact will be corrected spontaneously, without restrictions and without prejudice of legal dispositions on the right to respond.
Art. 5 Respect for the Other
a) The press agrees to avoid and oppose to any discrimination based on differences regarding gender, race, nationality, language, religion, ideology, ethnicity, culture, class or convictions, and this respecting the fundamental civil rights.
b) The press agrees to not commit and not to glorify crimes, acts of terrorism or other acts of cruelty or violence.
c) The press agrees to respect and defend the human dignity of every individual.
It agrees to respect the private life of every individual. Nevertheless, in some exceptional cases the public interest and the freedom of the press may be considered more important then the right to private life.
d) The press agrees to pay the utmost attention to the protection of minors. It agrees to avoid any intrusion compromising their development without prejudice of legal dispositions in force.
e) The press agrees to respect the presumption of innocence and avoid representing publicly a person as guilty of deeds before any official confirmation.
f) The press agrees to respect the rights of an author as they are defined in the law of April 18, 2001 concerning the rights of an author, neighbouring rights and databases.
Art. 6 Independence
a) The profession of journalist implies the refusal of all venality in exercising the profession as well as refusing to use the professional influence for any other goal than that of informing and forming the public opinion.
b) Journalists and editors agree to not accept any advantage or any promise limiting their professional independence or expressing their opinion.
c) The press sees to that it will not yield to direct or indirect pressure or promises of a third party in relation to presenting information, except when the extent of the information justifies it and when the information cannot be obtained otherwise.
d) Journalists cannot be constrained to rely on practices that are against the ethics and the deontology of their profession.
e) Journalists cannot be obliged to sign any of their contributions that have been substantially modified.
CHAPTER III – JOURNALISTIC PRACTICES
Art. 7 Obtaining information
a) The press agrees to observe professional secrecy, which implies the right to not mention its sources as it is defined by the law. In the framework of an administrative or judicial procedure, it has the right to refuse to divulge any information naming a source.
It agrees to guarantee that the confidential sources of information will not be communicated without the explicit authorisation of the informant.
b) Journalists must inform the people or the sources of information not acquainted with the press that their account may be published or diffused and therefore brought to the attention of the audience.
c) Journalists and editors agree to avoid any anonymous work or any recourse to other clandestine or reprehensible methods to obtain information, sound, images or documents. They agree to not exercise any cover operations unless the extent of the information justifies it and when the information cannot be obtained otherwise.
Art. 8 The presentation of information
a) The profession is engaged in making a clear distinction between what results from personal opinion, from analysis and from factual information in order to avoid creating confusion in the audience. Nonetheless, journalists agree to respect the facts, even in journalistic circles where expressing opinions has a significant role.
b) Press releases and other official communications are to be identified clearly as such in order to avoid confusion with journalistic work. Journalists agree to acknowledge as theirs only the work that has been done by them.
c) The press agrees to refrain from committing any act of plagiarism and to cite the authors or the sources whose information it reproduces.
Art. 9 Image, sound and the audiovisual
a) Journalists and editors agree to respect the image rights of every individual.
b) The image (a photograph, graphics, a filmed sequence…) must not distort reality. The images that have not been taken in the specific context of the event are to be marked in a visible manner as either illustrative images or as those taken from an archive.
Manipulated photographs are to be marked as such in a visible manner.
c) When manipulating sound and video, journalists agree not to modify the information obtained in a sensible manner or distort the information by taking it out of its original context.
d) The press agrees to prefer presenting the reality rather than its reconstitution by different means. However, reconstructing and staging events can be used in journalism to illustrate and to support a reportage on condition that this is appropriately noted in an adequate manner, making sure not to deceive the audience.
Art. 10 Electronic media and the Internet
The present Code of Deontology applies to information distributed by professionals of media on the Internet or any other electronic channel existing now or in the future.
Before proceeding to creating hyperlinks, the press agrees to verify that the sites concerned do not contain illicit material. If this is the case, the press shall refrain from creating any electronic link.
Art. 11 Commercial and financial information
a) Advertisements should be presented in a manner that does not leave place for confusion between advertising and editorial material. Announcements and commercial advertisements that may be misinterpreted as journalistic information by a relatively attentive and educated audience must be clearly identified in order to avoid any confusion.
b) Journalists agree to not acknowledge as theirs any commercial articles. The press agrees to remain objective in presenting and communicating information concerning commercial enterprises, products or services.
c) The press producing or communicating investment recommendations is obliged to refrain from communicating other recommendations than those that conform with the law and to identify them. It has to inform the audience of the identity of the person responsible for the recommendation and must warn the audience that it declines all responsibility in case an investment strategy should fail.
d) Journalists and editors agree to not use financial information received before general publication. They will not give the information to any third party interested in it before the official publication.
They agree not to communicate information about any stock exchange action in which they themselves or their friends or family members take a personal interest.
They agree not to sell or buy either directly or indirectly participations, shares, or any other financial instruments they have written about or intend to write about in the near future.
Art. 12 Processing personal data
The press agrees to respect the right to access personal information of any individual as defined by the law concerning the protection of information.
Nevertheless, exercising the right to access personal information may never affect the protection of the sources of a journalist.
CHAPTER IV. – DIFFERENT DISPOSITIONS
Art. 13 The public nature of the Code of Deontology
The present Code of Deontology is at the disposal of anyone interested and can be obtained from the secretary of the Press Council. The directive lines adopted in a General Assembly of the Press Council will be integrated into it in proportion as they are ready. The Code is the object of a specific publication which will appear on the Internet site of the Press Council. This will also be the case of any update
of the Code of Deontology.
Art. 14 Coming into force
The Code will take effect the day following its approval by the General Assembly of the Press Council. This applies to the updating of the Code of Deontology as well.
The Code of Deontology as it was established by the General Assembly on December 4 1995 is negated.
PART II: RECOMMENDATIONS AND DIRECTIVES OF THE PRESS COUNCIL
The law authorises the Press Council to put forward recommendations or directives for the attention of journalists and editors.
The present directives of the Press Council serve to specify, if needed, the interpretation and respectively the application of different articles of the Code of Deontology.
These directives resulting from general meetings of the Press Council allow it to ensure the development of the Code paying attention to changes in the legislative, social and technological domains.
Addition to Art. 5 Of respect for the Other
Art. 5 a) “The press agrees to avoid and oppose any discrimination based on differences regarding gender, race, nationality, language, religion, ideology, ethnicity, culture, class or convictions, and thus to respect the fundamental civil rights.”
Directive
The press shall not indicate the racial, religious, national or ethnic origins of a person unless this information is indispensable for understanding the facts or unless it is directly linked to the information.
(adopted in the General Assembly of March 28, 2006.)
Ad. Art. 7 Obtaining information
Art. 7 a) “The press agrees to observe the professional secrecy which implies the right to not mention its sources as it is defined by the law. In the framework of an administrative or judicial procedure, it has the right to refuse to divulge any information naming a source.”
Directive
In case of a search in a journalistic or an audiovisual enterprise following a request for executive assistance, the president of the Council, or in his absence one of the vice-presidents or his authorised representative, shall assist in the search, assuring that the dispositions guaranteeing the freedom of expression in the media are respected.
(adopted in the general reunion of March 28 2006)
Art. 7 c) “Journalists and editors agree to avoid any anonymous work or any recourse to other clandestine or reprehensible methods to obtain information, sound, images or documents. They agree to not exercise any cover operations unless the extent of the information justifies it and when the information cannot be obtained otherwise.”
Directive
In certain cases journalist may resort to clandestine methods in order to obtain the information they strive after: fake identity, hidden microphones and cameras, impreciseness concerning the purposes of the reportage, stalking, infiltrating. Resorting to such methods must always be exceptional. Journalists may employ these when one of the following conditions is fulfilled:
- the information looked for is of certain public interest, for example, in cases where socially reprehensible actions may be revealed;
- obtaining or verifying the information otherwise would be unlikely, or when other methods have been used unsuccessfully;
- the public interest is greater than the harm caused. The audience will be informed of the methods used.
(Adopted in the general reunion of March 28 2006)
Ad. Art. 9 Image, sound and the audiovisual
Art. 9 d) “The press agrees to prefer presenting the reality rather than its reconstitution by different means. However, reconstructing and staging events can be used in journalism to illustrate and to support a report on condition that they are identified it in an adequate manner and making sure not to deceive the audience.”
Directive
Before resorting to reconstruction, journalists should evaluate whether it is the best or the only way to present the situation to the audience. Consequently, the audience must be clearly informed that the situation is reconstructed or staged.
The reconstruction should represent the facts, the opinions and the emotions related to the recreated event as accurately as possible.
When the aim of the montage is to give an impression of a spontaneous event, the journalists must inform the audience of the organised nature of the event.
(adopted in the General Assembly of March 28 2006)
Ad. Art. 12 Processing personal data
The press agrees to respect the right to access personal information of any individual as defined by the law concerning the protection of information.
Regardless, exercising the right to access personal information can never affect the protection of the sources of a journalist.
Directive
The Complaints Commission of the Press Council is in charge of handling any complaint against a journalist or an editor when it comes to protecting data. An eventual intervention of the national Commission to protect information will be subsidiary in case the decision of the Complaints Commission does not satisfy the plaintiff. In any case, the right to access information can only be exercised in presence of the president of the Press Council or his representative.
(adopted in the General Assembly of March 28 2006)
The right to access data can never be applied to the origin of the information. Nor can it be used to compromise the dissemination of a publication.
(adopted in the General Assembly of March 28, 2006)
PART III: COMMENTARIES ARTICLE BY ARTICLE
From here on any reference to the law of June 8, 2004 on the freedom of expression in the media will be made using the terms “the law” as there is no ambiguity.
Addition to the preamble
Freedom of expression is found in all the declarations and conventions connected to civil rights.
This freedom that must not be limited by restrictions, pressure or censorship constitutes one of the indispensable pillars of any democratic society.
Article 24 of the Luxembourgian Constitution ordains: “The freedom to express with words one’s opinions on any matter and the freedom of the press are guaranteed, except the repression of offences committed exercising these liberties. – Censorship can never be established.”
The preamble presents the legal, national and international norms that are applicable in Luxembourg and justify the existence of the present Code of Deontology and confer it its normative force.
Ad. Art. 1 Field of application
This article is a necessary condition to the application of the Code of Deontology. The definition of the terms of collaborator, editor and journalist are that of the law. “A collaborator is anyone, journalist or not, who, ordered by the editor or for his account participates in the collecting, analysing, commenting or the editorial processing of information.
An editor is any physical or moral person, whose principal or regular activity includes planning and structuring a publication, who is in charge of the editorial direction, who decides whether to give it to the disposition of the audience in general or of categories of the audience by a certain channel, and who organizes its reproduction or multiplication.
A journalist is anyone who exercises on a full-time basis a remunerated activity or who exercises regularly an activity which provides substantial income, whether it be as an employee or as a freelancer by or for the account of an editor and who contributes to the collecting, analysing, commenting or to the editorial processing of information.
To the journalist is linked an editor, a physical person who participates personally and in a regular manner in the collecting, analysing, commenting or the editorial processing of information.”
Ad. Art. 2 Object
Every freedom includes rights and obligations. The Press Council, in its mission of defending the freedom of the press and in the mission accorded to it in the parliamentary debates concerning the law of June 8, 2004 on the freedom of expression in the media and in particular in the bill of May 13, 2004 by the Chamber of Deputies, establishes with this Code of Deontology the inherent rules for the use of the press and for the exercising of the freedom of expression in the media.
Ad. Art. 13 Freedom of expression
Article 6 of the law establishes not only the right to information, but also the right to communicate, to comment and to criticise information
The freedom of the press is based on the societal role that has fallen on media and the professionals of information in a democratic society. This role consists of research, collecting, processing, commenting and diffusing, without restrictions, information of public interest necessary for the existence and the maintenance of democratic life. The freedom of the press results from the fundamental freedoms of thought, speech, expression and opinion that are recognized in different documents of legal order both nationally and internationally.
In extending the aforementioned freedoms, the right to information is rooted in the acknowledgement of the legitimate interest of the audience to be informed. It defines the conditions of the practice of a free press in a democratic society, as well as the prerogatives and the responsibilities of those whose primary function is to inform. The right to be informed includes the right for the media and the journalists to search and to transmit the information without obstacles and constraints, and the right of the audience to have free access to it.
For this, it is suitable to bear in mind the great principles taken from the universal declaration of civil rights and from the Convention of the European Council: “Every individual has the right to the freedom of opinion and expression, which implies the right to not be afraid for one’s opinions and that of searching, receiving and spreading information and ideas, without the consideration of frontiers and by whatever means” (Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Civil Rights)
“Any individual has the right to freedom of expression. This right includes the freedom of opinion and the freedom to receive and to communicate information or ideas without the inference of public authorities and without the consideration of frontiers.” (Article 10 of the Convention of protecting the civil rights and the fundamental liberties of the European Council)
Ad. Art. 4 Exactitude and truthfulness
a) The control of the exactitude and the truthfulness of information are indispensable for maintaining the high standards of the professional press. Nevertheless, according to the situation, if in spite of all reasonable efforts the information remains questionable, the press must be allowed to communicate the information with reserve. Here, we are dealing with the matter of not publishing information of which the sources are not credible and marking as such the information from questionable sources.
b) Article 11 of the law ordains that any inexact presentation of a fact included in a publication must be corrected voluntarily as soon as the inexactitude related to the presentation of the fact is confirmed or as soon as the collaborator concerned or the editor are aware of it.
The Code of Deontology acknowledges these considerations.
Ad. Art 5 Respecting the Other
a) This article discusses direct discrimination.
In regard to this, let us bear in mind the article II-21 in the project of Treaty of the European Constitution: “Any discrimination is forbidden that is based on sex, race, colour, ethnic or social background, genetic characteristics, language, religion or convictions, politic or any other opinions, being part of a national minority, fortune, birth, a handicap, age or sexual orientation.” There are forms of communication which without directly inciting to discrimination or hatred can favour an atmosphere that is opportune to creating in the audience negative feelings towards a community.
An example found in daily practice is indicating the colour of the skin of an interviewee every time he or she is not white.
It is recommended that the press should not indicate the racial, national or ethnic origins of a person unless there is a direct relation with the information. This is the recommendation for the sex, language, culture, social class, sickness, physical or mental handicap, as well as the religious, political or ideological convictions of a person.
b) The press agrees not to commit or glorify crimes, acts of terrorism or other acts of cruelty or violence.
c) Any individual, whether of notorious reputation or not, has the fundamental right to a private life, to intimacy, to dignity and to the respect of his or her reputation. The audience, in turn, has the right to be informed of what is of public interest, and the press has the duty of informing them.
Whether it be when collecting, processing or diffusing the information, the media and the journalists must show prudence, discernment and circumspection. They must see to truly informing the audience and need to make the distinction between what is of public interest and what comes from the curiosity of the audience.
Regarding respecting the private life of a person, in its articles 14 and 15, the law defines a certain number of modalities to respect.
d) The legislator, in different laws, accords a special protection for minors in order to not compromise their social and familial development. Equally, the journalistic ethics obliges the journalist to respect particular guidelines when collecting, processing and diffusing information concerning minors, and more precisely when it comes to their identification.
When the press estimates it pertinent to inform the audience about the legal problems of minors, it abstains from publishing any mention permitting their identification, whether these individuals be involved as accused, as victims or as witnesses to traumatising events.
Out of the legal context, the media and the journalists should be guided in exercising their professional responsibilities by the principle of anonymity of adolescents whose security and development might be compromised. Therefore, the press should abstain from giving details that are susceptible to help identifying the stigmatized young, whether it be as victims, innocent third parties, or because they experience important personal difficulties.
The law ordains in its articles 18 and 19, certain dispositions regarding the protection of minors.
e) The Universal Charter of Civil Rights makes the presumption of innocence one of the fundamental rights: “Any individual accused of an offensive act is presumed innocent until his or her being guilty is legally confirmed in course of a public process where all the necessary guarantees for his defence are appointed to him.” The press adheres to this principle without exception.
The law ordains the obligations of the media in the context of legal procedures in its articles 12 and 13.
However, it happens that the press takes an interest in affairs that take place out of the context of legal procedures but relevant to the public interest. In this case, the press must bear in mind all the generic precautions in order to respect the presumption of innocence.
In the absence of legal procedures, the journalists must show prudence before revealing the identities of suspects, unless the suspicion is the result of rigorous journalistic work aiming at revealing socially reprehensible acts.
This distinction between legal procedures and affairs taking place outside the jurisdiction explains the saying: “… and avoids presenting publicly a person as guilty of deed before any official confirmation” instead of the habitual formulation: ” … before any official condemnation.”
f) The information diffused in the media is of the public domain. Therefore, it can be referred to, summarised or cited.
When it comes to information, the work of other media may be useful to journalists. Nevertheless, the fact that the information is diffused in a medium does not justify in any way that another medium copy or reproduce it with impunity, without mentioning the source or without the authorisation of the author. Not only is it condemned by the legislation concerning the rights of an author, related rights and databases, but it is also a question of professional ethics.
Ad. Art. 6 Independence
A necessary condition to the freedom of opinion and expression is the independence of the press. The latter, with reasonable attention, sees to itself avoiding anything that could jeopardize its independence. The paragraphs of the present article discuss different cases that could compromise this independence.
Ad. Art. 7 Secrecy of sources and obtaining information
a) The law guarantees the protection of sources in its Article 7. However, certain cases that have arisen since the Code has come into force show that this protection remains fragile as long as the domains concerned do not dispose of enough experience or routine necessary. After the encounter with the prosecutor of the State, the Press Council plans charging its president, or in his absence, one of the vice-presidents or his authorized representative, with the mission of assisting in eventual searches in order to supervise, that the protection of journalistic sources are always respected.
b) The press agrees to introduce itself as such to physical persons working as sources of information and to inform them, according to the situation, of its intention to communicate to the audience the information obtained. This article aims at informing people not familiar with the methods of the press. The people must be aware of the fact that their accounts told to a journalist may find their repercussions in front of a large audience.
c) Certain codes of deontology are limited to forbidding the so-called dishonest method, that is, working under cover to obtain information. Even if this rule is applicable in the greatest part of journalistic work, it cannot be absolute. The “Watergate” scandal, to mention one of the most spectacular examples in the history of journalism, would never have come to the knowledge of the audience without the use of unusual methods. But in many cases, these methods are necessary for many other goals, such as investigating in the interest of the consumer (test buying, for instance).
This article helps sensitize the journalist not to abuse these methods leaving him the right to resort to them when the public interest requires it.
The press informs the audience of resorting to these methods respecting the principle of protecting the sources and bearing in mind the interest of the audience of being informed of a situation of this kind.
Ad. Art. 8 Presenting the information
a) In general, the rule presented in this article is the principle of separating facts and commentary. As in Luxembourg, the written press is that of opinion, and the limitation to a simple recommendation of separating facts and commentary does not seem sufficient. This leads to the conclusion that a physical separation between information and the commentary is indispensable, that is, it would be convenient to publish two distinct articles.
However, there is place for nuances. When the audience manages to distinguish, even in one single article, the facts on one hand, and the opinions and commentary of the journalist on the other, the rule appears to have been respected.
In many cases, the formulation of a headline or using an adjective is already an expression of opinion, an evaluation by the journalist. Using these methods in order to attract the attention of the audience may be in opposition with the rule stated before. And it is up to the journalist to be aware of this.
b) This disposition is justified by the fact that more and more of the official sources and enterprises have at their disposal press services providing the media with “ready-to-use” press releases. Therefore, the press is advised to be particularly vigilant to allow the audience to distinguish journalistic work from the press releases of a third party.
c) Respecting the moral right of the author implies indicating the name of the author or the source of the information reproduced.
Ad. Art. 10 Commercial and financial information
a) Announcements and advertisements must be presented in such a way that the audience can not confuse them with journalistic information.
b) The press is free to discuss in an independent manner subjects such as commerce, businessmen, commercial societies, products and services, les novelties of various markets. Even if in these cases the distinction between information and hidden advertisements is hard to make, the press must in any case avoid inciting to buying.
Making comparisons or recommending of products or services based on objective criteria is nonetheless possible.
c) In the context of this article, it is necessary to refer to the specific dispositions of the law related to the abuse of the market.
This part being particularly delicate, the Press Council supervises that the dispositions in force at present or in the future be transmitted to the parties concerned.
d) The members of the press must avoid taking advantage, directly or indirectly, or profiting from the privileged information that they may come across in exercising their profession.
Ad. Art. 12 Processing data of a personal nature
The law of August 2, 2002 related to the protection of people and concerning the processing of data of personal nature states obligations regarding processing the data in the domain of freedom of expression in the article 9.
The legislation is to be modified in such a manner that the Press Complaints Commission is in charge of handling any complaint of a private person against the press regarding the protection of data. The right to access information can only be exercised in the presence of the president of the Press Council or his representative.
An intervention by the National Commission for the protection of data will only take place in a subsidiary manner in case the decision of the Complaints Commission does not satisfy the plaintiff.
The right to access data can never be applied to the origin of the information. Nor can it be used to compromise the diffusion of a publication.
Ad. Art. 13 The public nature of the Code of Deontology
The law empowers the Press Council to supervise the publication of the Code of Deontology leaving the choice of channel of publication to the Press Council.
Ad. Art. 14 Coming into force
The present Code replaces and negates the Code of Deontology validated by the General Assembly of the Press Council on December 4, 1995.
The Code will take effect the day following its approval by the General Assembly of the Press Council. This applies to the updating of the Code of Deontology as well.
The Press Council recommends soliciting the publication of the Code of Deontology in the collection C of the Memorial because of its importance and because of the references to it in the constitutional law.
The role and the importance of this Code of Deontology are seen most clearly in the adoption of the initiative of May 13 2004 by the Members of the Parliament.
Sources having served in elaborating the Code of Deontology and the commentaries:
The legislation, the codes of deontology and the recommendations of press councils , respectively the federations of journalists of the following countries: Germany, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Sweden, Switzerland, (Quebec,) The United Kingdom as well as that of the Féderation Internationale des éditeurs des journaux (FIEJ), the declaration of duties and rights of the Féderation Internationale des Journalistes (FIJ).
Last updated on 24.10.2018.