Access to public documents and protection of media privacy – freedom of expression and media

On March 27-28, 2018, the Academy of Justice, in co-operation with the project "Strengthening judicial expertise on freedom of expression and media in South East Europe - JUFREX", organized a training on: "Access to public documents and protection of privacy in the media - freedom of expression and media".

The purpose of this training was to advance the participants' knowledge on the national and international standards in regulating access to public documents and protecting privacy in the media.

On the first day of the training, were elaborated the legal framework in the Republic of Kosovo on the right of privacy during media reporting,  the institutional framework regulating privacy during media reporting, the role of the State Agency for Personal Data Protection and the Ombudsperson Institution. There were also elaborated the ECHR standards in protection of privacy, freedom of expression, the role of media and responsible journalism, reputation as part of the right to privacy, the balance of freedom of expression and privacy, media and the right of privacy. In addition, media coverage of court hearings in Kosovo courts and best practices were dealt with as well. The focus was on the KJC's Regulation on trial recordings, the EULEX decision on trial recordings followed by Kosovo case law examples.

Whereas, on the second day, was elaborated the national legal framework on access to public documents, the local institutions addressing requests for access to public documents, in the context of the role of the State Agency for Personal Data Protection and the Ombudsperson Institution. In general were also elaborated the ECtHR  standards on access to public documents, judicial precedents regarding the right of access to information and an analysis of four judgments of the Pristina Basic Court.

The participants assisted by trainers, discussed and addressed a case, providing also a solution related to the requirements of the case dedicated to the right to access information. Whereas at the end were given explanations from the case law point of view of the European Court of Human Rights related to the subject matter. 

The beneficiaries of this training were basic judges, prosecutors and fessional associates