التنظيم التشريعي لحرية الصحافة في فلسطين "دراسة مقارنة"

Date
2020-06-11
Authors
معمر علي عرابي نخلة
Muamar Ali Orabi Nakhla
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Al-Quds University
Abstract
Human rights framework is designed for people to identify their rights and duties, where they can exercise these rights within the temporal, spatial, and practical dimensions through defining the margin of freedom. Human rights framework also represents a legal interlinked chain characterized by its universal principals, which mark these rights as an integrated unit without any interference. Exercising natural or legal rights and freedoms should also be inconsistent with other people’s rights and freedoms. Palestine was one of the first to endorse rights and freedoms as stated in the Declaration of Independence in 1988, and after the Palestinian Authority was established. More specifically, the Basic Law declared all rights and freedoms contained in the international covenants and treaties. In addition, the Legislative Council enacted many laws associated with these rights and freedoms. Freedom of the press is considered one of the rights guaranteed in the Palestinian Basic Law. Article 27 of the Basic Law guarantees freedom of press and protection of all types of media. Freedom of the press is part of the freedom of expression that is declared in Article 19 of the Basic Law. Consequently, the Palestinian legislator recognizes and defends the freedom of the press that was also recognized in many laws such as the 1995 Press and Publications Law, the Cyber Crime Law for 2018, the draft law on audio-visual media for 2009, and the draft law on the right to access information. As part of human rights, freedom of opinion and expression is closely complementary to many other rights and freedoms such as the freedom of the press, freedom of peaceful assembly, and right to access information that is still not declared in the Basic Law. However, it is worth mentioning that access to information is considered as a natural right. A long time ago, a draft law was prepared to be implemented by the PA. Therefore, the constitutional and legal framework for freedom of the press "guarantees" its implementation, as it represents a basic pillar for building a democratic society and a basic principle for measuring effective democracy in any society. It is worth mentioning that the freedom of the press is guaranteed in the Basic Law but it was determined by its legal framework that, we believe, restricts the freedom of the press such as the Cyber Crime Law that constitutes an obstacle to these freedoms, as contemporary media depends on the online content. These limits are not only related to people’s rights and freedoms, rather, the Palestinian legislator and the majority of legislators, including the international legislators, have set another limit on the freedom of the press, which is the "public system" - the "most effective justification" for authorities to undermine the rights and freedoms in general, and freedom of the press in particular, because of its ambiguity as a concept and the changing environment over time. In this study, the scope of press freedom in Palestine will be defined in light of the legislation that regulates it, and whether the concept of public order has negatively affected this freedom guaranteed by international conventions and agreements. The researcher will apply the descriptive analytical methodology, which helps collect legal texts and legislations regulating freedom of the press to answer the research questions and clarify the comparison between the reality and limits of journalism in Palestine and its reality in the Arab countries, when needed. A review of some texts and experiences in these countries will be summarized as it might have a positive impact on the Palestinian legal texts. These comparative systems were selected by the researcher as a result of similarities of the cultural dimension with these countries. The study found out that the Palestinian Declaration of Independence and the Basic Law recognized the freedom of the press in Palestine. However, some laws restrict freedom of opinion and expression in general and freedom of the press in particular, such as the Press and Publications Law, and the Cyber Crime Law. The study concluded that freedom of the press is different between countries, such as Lebanon, Egypt, and Tunisia. These countries also use general terms to restrict freedom of the press
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