[kictanet] Media council Draft bill 2010 (Day Nine--Wrapping up/Any other business)

[toby at law-democracy.org]

Hi there,

I have a few remaining concerns with the draft Bill:

1)	s. 11(1)(c) and (e) refer to subjective grounds for removing members
from the Council (incapacity and lack of fitness). Who will decide on
this? One idea would be a 2/3 vote of other Council members.

2)	s. 12 provides for the Council to receive 'reasonable' remuneration. I
would suggest that this be linked to benefits provided to an existing
position (eg Human Rights Commission or something along those lines). The
same point applies to s. 26 for members of the Complaints Commission.

3)	s.19(d) provides for the Council to receive funds from levies and fees
that is imposes. This is not inappropriate as long as the level of those
fees is set by another body. Unfortunately this is not the case, since s.
20 allows the fees to be set by the Council (ie it can determine its own
revenues through fees imposed on the media).

4)	s. 23 provides for annual accounts. The Council should also be required
to produce an annual report on its activities.

5)	s. 36(1) refers to a number of vague obligations on the media. It is
not appropriate to require the media by law to inform the public (although
this is  of course a professional obligation). Otherwise, these
obligations should be part of a code of conduct, generated in close
consultation with the media and other stakeholders, rather than directly
in the law.

Best, Toby


___________________________________
Toby Mendel

Centre for Law and Democracy
toby at law-democracy.org
Tel:  +1 902 431-3688
Fax: +1 902 431-3689
www.law-democracy.org