BCC penalties will come into force immediately
- 09.03.2012 06:28
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The penalties imposed by the Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC) will take effect immediately after the decisions are adopted, not after they are published in the Official Gazette. This is provided by the amendments to the Broadcasting Code that were passed by Parliament.
Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, BCC chairman Marian Pocaznoi said that earlier the penalties came into force in 15 days, but now this will happen immediately after they are published on the Council’s website. This does not mean that the broadcasters or service providers cannot challenge the Council’s decision in court. The judge can suspend the penalties even in two hours if they are considered unfounded.
The amendments to the Broadcasting Code were submitted to Parliament by Liberal lawmaker Corina Fusu. According to her, in order to protect the public interest in the area of broadcasting, the BCC was empowered to impose gradual penalties for violations of the legislation in the field. “During the last year, the BCC was prevented from de facto fulfilling this duty. Besides, there were a series of subjective factors and certain regulations of the Broadcasting Code were defective,” said the MP.
The legislature adopted the proposed amendments in the March 7 sitting by a majority of votes. The penalties imposed by the BCC are: public warning, withdrawal of the right to broadcast advertisements for a certain period, fine, suspension of the license for a certain period, and withdrawal of the license.
