Pakistan Ordinance, Freedom of Information Ordinance and the Registeration Ordiance 2002
MEMORANDUM on Press Council of Pakistan Ordinance, 2002 and Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration Ordinance, 2002
1. Introduction
This Memorandum analyses the Press Council of Pakistan Ordinance, 2002 (Press Council Ordinance), the Pakistan Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration Ordinance, 2002 (Registration Ordinance) and Freedom of Information Ordinance2002, for compliance with international standards on freedom of expression. The Ordinances were adopted on 21 August and came into effect immediately.
2. International and Domestic Obligations
II.1 the Guarantee of Freedom of Expression
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR), a United Nations General Assembly Resolution, guarantees the right to freedom of expression in the following terms:
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the right to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
The UDHR is not directly binding on States but parts of it, including Article 19, are widely regarded as having acquired legal force as customary international law since its adoption in 1948.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a formally binding legal treaty, guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression at Article 19, in terms very similar to the UDHR. Although Pakistan has neither signed nor ratified the ICCPR, is an authoritative elaboration of the rights set out in the UDHR and hence of some relevance here.
Freedom of expression is also protected in the three regional human rights systems, at Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights5 and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Freedom of expression is a key human right, in particular because of its fundamental role in underpinning
1. Introduction
This Memorandum analyses the Press Council of Pakistan Ordinance, 2002 (Press Council Ordinance), the Pakistan Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration Ordinance, 2002 (Registration Ordinance) and Freedom of Information Ordinance2002, for compliance with international standards on freedom of expression. The Ordinances were adopted on 21 August and came into effect immediately.
2. International and Domestic Obligations
II.1 the Guarantee of Freedom of Expression
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR), a United Nations General Assembly Resolution, guarantees the right to freedom of expression in the following terms:
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the right to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
The UDHR is not directly binding on States but parts of it, including Article 19, are widely regarded as having acquired legal force as customary international law since its adoption in 1948.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a formally binding legal treaty, guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression at Article 19, in terms very similar to the UDHR. Although Pakistan has neither signed nor ratified the ICCPR, is an authoritative elaboration of the rights set out in the UDHR and hence of some relevance here.
Freedom of expression is also protected in the three regional human rights systems, at Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights5 and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Freedom of expression is a key human right, in particular because of its fundamental role in underpinning