Restrictions for the media: case files and wiretaps to be published only with the court’s permission

Materials from investigation files will no longer be allowed in the media. The amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code set rules not only for prosecutors, judges and lawyers, who must not distribute documents, but also for the media — and not only in cases involving investigative secrecy. The media will even have to be restricted in publishing wiretaps.

The Ministry of Justice states: “The publication, even partial, of the content of telephone wiretaps is always prohibited, with the exception of the part of the transcript quoted in the reasoning of a decision or used during the trial.”

But if journalists hold a case file, in order to publish it they must first obtain permission from the court. The Ministry of Justice states: “In the case of third parties and in particular journalists and media outlets, who already possess data falling under the regime of this article, they may ask the competent court of first instance for authorisation to publish the data,” as A2CNN reports.

One of the current debates between journalists and the courts concerns the camera broadcasting of court hearings in high-profile cases. The restrictions are now also envisaged in the Criminal Procedure Code. The Ministry of Justice states: “When requested by the defendant, the victim or their defenders, the court may authorise the live online broadcasting of the hearing, after hearing the parties and when it assesses that the rights of third parties who are not parties to the proceedings are not infringed, that the rights of victims are adequately protected and that the calm conduct of the judicial debate is guaranteed.”

The amendments further add that unlawful broadcasting constitutes grounds for administrative or disciplinary measures against the broadcasting entity.