14)suspend in the manner prescribed by law the re-broadcasting within the territory of the Republic of Lithuania of the programmes produced abroad;
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15)collect information about broadcasters, re-broadcasters and common-use reception networks, analyse their activities, publish information about the participants therein, prepare information and methodical materials on these issues;
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16)prepare and submit every 2 years to the Seimas an analytical survey of the implementation of Lithuania’s audiovisual policy, the development of the market of audiovisual services, the prospects for the expansion of national audiovisual sector, including the statistical data on the progress necessary to comply with the provisions of paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 38 achieved by all the broadcasters falling under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Lithuania, also stating the reasons that impede the implementation of the said provisions and remedial measures taken or to be taken.
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17)cooperate with the institutions of the European Union and other foreign countries which perform equivalent functions, also represent, within the sphere of its competence, the Republic of Lithuania in international organisations;
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18)establish the procedure for encoding the programmes broadcast and/or re-broadcast; and
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19)perform other functions set out in the laws and other legal acts.
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2.While carrying out the functions referred to in subparagraph 6 of paragraph 1 of this Law, the Commission may address the inspector of journalist ethics regarding the conclusions pertaining to the assigning of public information to the category of information which causes a negative impact on the development of minors, if members of the Commission have reservations when assessing the damage done to the physical, mental or moral development of minors or assessment of such public information requires special knowledge. Upon the receipt of such inquiry, the inspector of journalist ethics must, in the manner and within the time limits prescribed by this Law, submit to the Commission his own conclusions on the matter at issue or the conclusions of the experts of the office of inspector of journalist ethics with respect to that matter.
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3.While carrying out the functions established for it by legal acts, the Commission shall have the right:
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1)to obtain free of charge from broadcasters and re-broadcasters, managers of the Information Society media, state and municipal institutions and agencies as well as other legal persons the information, including that which is a commercial secret;
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2)to obtain from broadcasters and re-broadcasters, managers of the Information Society media, state and municipal institutions, as well as agencies, other persons the documents and other information necessary to investigate violations of the relevant laws which are assigned to the competence of the Commission;
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3)to carry out on-the-spot checks with court’s permission;
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4)to set up commissions, working groups for drafting legal acts or solving other issues falling within the competence of the Commission, to include specialists of other institutions (upon co-ordination with their heads) in the said commissions, groups;
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5)within the limits of its competence as a competent authority, in compliance with Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 October 2004 on cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws, to participate in the development and implementation of a framework of cooperation established by this Regulation;
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6)to organise meetings, conferences and other events;
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7)to conclude contracts, assume obligations, have other civil rights and duties, provided this is in compliance with laws of the Republic of Lithuania;
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8)to enjoy other rights established by this Law, directly applicable legal acts of the European Union, regulating broadcasting and re-broadcasting activities, with Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 October 2004 on cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws, and other legal acts.
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Article 49Inspector of Journalist Ethics
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1.The Inspector of Journalist Ethics shall be a State Officer who shall supervise the implementation of the provisions of this Law.
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2.The Inspector of Journalist Ethics shall be appointed for a five-year term of office by the Seimas on the nomination by the Ethics Commission of Journalists and Publishers. The same person may not be appointed the Inspector of Journalist Ethics for more than two successive terms of office. A person appointed the Inspector of Journalist Ethics shall hold office until the appointment of a new Inspector of Journalist Ethics.
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3.A citizen of the Republic of Lithuania of good repute with higher education and the competence necessary to perform his duties shall be appointed the Inspector of Journalist Ethics.
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4.Members of Seimas and Government as well as public servants of political (personal) confidence may not be appointed as the Inspector of Journalist Ethics. The Inspector of Journalist Ethics and members of his family may not be linked with producers and/or disseminators of public information by virtue of employment and may not have the shares of the producers and/or disseminators of public information. During his term office, the Inspector of Journalist Ethics may not participate in political activities.
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5.The Inspector of Journalist Ethics shall act in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, this and other laws, international treaties of the Republic of Lithuania, and other legal acts.
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6.The Inspector of Journalist Ethics shall act in conformity with the principles of legality, objectivity, justice and openness.
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7.The decisions of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics may be appealed against in court within 30 days after the day of their publication.
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8.The Inspector of Journalist Ethics may not hold any other elective or appointive office and receive any other remuneration, except for that prescribed for his current position and payments for pedagogical or creative activity.
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9.An application or complaint submitted in respect of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics must indicate:
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1)the name, surname and address of an applicant;
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2)the medium and the concrete publication or broadcast which disseminated the information degrading the applicant’s honour and dignity, violating the right to the protection of private life or interests of minors;
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3)which information is false, how the right to privacy has been violated, how interests of minors have been damaged;
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4)the contents of a request addressed to the Inspector of Journalist Ethics, as well as the form of conclusions desired by the applicant;
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5)the date of making of the complaint or application and the applicant’s signature.
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10.The Inspector of Journalist Ethics shall examined a received complaint or application not later than within 30 days. In some cases, where it is necessary to verify the data more thoroughly, the time limits of examination of an application or complaint may be extended up to three months from the date of receipt of the complaint or application.
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11.If a complaint or application is reasoned, the Inspector of Journalist Ethics may take one of the decisions provided for in paragraph 2 of Article 50 of this Law. The Inspector of Journalist Ethics shall present his decision to the applicant, producers and/or disseminators of public information.
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12.In the event a complaint or application is recognised as unreasoned, the Inspector of Journalist Ethics must make a written, reasoned reply to the applicant.
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13.Activities of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics shall be ensured by the service of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics. The service of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics shall be a state institution headed by the Inspector of Journalist Ethics.
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14.The activities of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics and the service headed by him shall be financed from the State budget. The funds allocated for this purpose shall be listed under a separate budget item.
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15.The Inspector of Journalist Ethics and the service headed by him shall work in accordance with the regulations of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics, approved by the Seimas.
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Article 50Competence of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics
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1.The Inspector of Journalist Ethics shall perform the following functions:
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1)examine the complaints and applications of interested persons regarding violation of their honour and dignity in the media;
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2)examine the complaints and applications of interested persons regarding violation of the right to the protection of privacy in the media;
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3)examine the complaints and applications of interested persons regarding violation of management of their personal data in the media;
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4)maintain, within the limits of his competence, supervision over the implementation of the provisions of the Law on the Protection of Minors against Detrimental Effect of Public Information;
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5)assess compliance with the principles of providing information to the public set forth in this and other laws, submit proposals to state institutions for improving their implementation;
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6)in compliance with the conclusions of experts, ascribe press publications, audiovisual works, radio and television programmes or broadcasts, the Information Society media and other media and/or their contents to the categories of erotic, pornographic and/or violent character, and inform the State Tax Inspectorate under the Ministry of Finance about press publications of erotic and/or violent character;
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7)cooperate with counterpart institutions of the European Union and other countries as well as represent, within the sphere of his competence, the Republic of Lithuania in international organisations;
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8)draw up and publish every two years an analytical survey intended to establish the guidelines for the development of a democratic culture in the field of provision of information to the public;
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9)carry on monitoring of public information in the media, with the exception of radio and television programmes.
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2.In discharging the functions specified in paragraph 1 of this Article and paragraph 1 of Article 49, the Inspector of Journalist Ethics shall make a decision to:
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1)reprimand the producers and disseminators of public information about the noticed violations of legal acts governing the provision of information to the public and request that they be eliminated;
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2)request that a producer or disseminator of public information refute in accordance with the established procedure published false information, degrading the honour and dignity of a person or damaging his professional reputation, legitimate interests, or provide that person with a possibility to reply and deny such information;
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3)appeal to competent state institutions and the Ethics Commission of Journalists and Publishers in respect of the noticed violations of this Law and other legal acts governing the provision of information to the public;
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4)write down records of administrative offences in the cases set out in the Code of Administrative Offences;
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5)hear proceedings of administrative offences and impose administrative penalties in the cases set out in the Code of Administrative Offences.
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3.Decisions of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics shall be published in the supplement Informaciniai Pranešimai (Information Bulletin) to the official gazette Valstybės Žinios as well as on the website of the service of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics. An operative part of a decision of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics must be forthright announced in that medium in which the Inspector of Journalist Ethics has established a violation.
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4.The Inspector of Journalist Ethics shall have the right to receive, free of charge, from the producers and disseminators of public information, state and municipal institutions and agencies the information necessary for discharging the functions of the service of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics.
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5.A group of experts shall operate at the Inspector of Journalist Ethics, presenting conclusions with respect to ascription of press publications, audiovisual works, radio and television programmes or broadcasts, websites or other media and/or their contents to the categories of erotic, pornographic and/or violent character. The Inspector of Journalist Ethics shall approve the composition of a group of experts. Experts shall be responsible for the correctness of their conclusions. A group of experts shall work in accordance with the regulations approved by the Inspector of Journalist Ethics and their activities shall be financed with the funds of the state budget.
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6.The Inspector of Journalist Ethics shall report to the Seimas at least once a year about his work as well as the work of the service of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics.
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CHAPTER VI
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LIABILITY FOR VIOLATIONS OF LEGAL ACTS REGULATING PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC AND PROCEDURE OF ITS IMPLEMENTATION
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Article 51Liability of Producers and Disseminators of Public Information as well as Officials
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1.Public information producer or disseminator shall be liable, in accordance with the procedure established by this and other laws, for violating this and other laws and international treaties of the Republic of Lithuania governing the production of public information, also for violating the procedure of dissemination of public information, as prescribed by laws.
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2.Manager of a medium shall be liable for the contents of the medium in the manner prescribed by this and other laws.
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3.Providers of intermediate services of the Information Society shall be liable for contents of the Information Society media in accordance with the terms and conditions, and the procedure laid down by the Law on Information Society Services.
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Article 52Suspension or Termination of the Activities of Producers and/or Disseminators of Public Information
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1.The activities of a producer and/or disseminator of public information, except for broadcasters and/or re-broadcasters, may be suspended or terminated by court if the producer and/or disseminator of public information violate the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 19.
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2.When making a decision on the suspension of the activities of a producer and/or disseminator of public information, the suspension term set by the court may not exceed 1 month with respect to newspaper editorial offices and 3 months with respect to magazine editorial offices.
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3.The activities of producers and/or disseminators of public information may be terminated by court in the event that the court had suspended its activities at least once during the previous 12 months.
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Article 53Compensation for Damage
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1.Damage incurred due to violations of this Law shall be compensated in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Civil Code
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Article 54Release from Compensation for Damage
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1.A producer and/or disseminator of public information shall not be liable for the publication of false information if he indicates the source of information and the information was:
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1)provided by state and municipal institutions and agencies, political parties, trade unions and associations or other persons in official or publicly published documents;
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2)publicly stated in open meetings, sessions, press conferences, rallies and other events, and if the producer of public information did not distort the statements made. In this case, all responsibility shall be borne by the organisers of the aforementioned events and the persons who made the information public;
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3)published earlier in other means of mass media if the information has not been refuted by the means of mass media where it was published;
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4)announced by the participants of live radio and television broadcasts who are not subordinate to the producer of public information;
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5)announced in a special election campaign broadcast which was not produced by the producer of public information;
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6)presented in non-anonymous advertising announcements;
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7)presented in the form of an opinion, a commentary or value judgement.
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2.In the cases specified in paragraph 1 of this Article, liability for the publication of false information shall be borne by the person who was the first to publish such information.
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Annex to Republic of Lithuania Law on Provision of Information to the Public EU LEGAL ACTS IMPLEMENTED BY THE LAW ON PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC 1. Council Directive of 3 October 1989 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities (89/552/EEC) (2004 Official journal special edition, chapter 6, volume 1, p. 224).
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2.Directive 97/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 1997 amending Council Directive 89/552/EEC on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities (2004 Official journal special edition, chapter 6, volume 2, p. 321).
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3.Directive 98/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 July 1998 amending Directive 98/34/EC laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations (2004 Official journal special edition, chapter 13, volume 21, p. 8).
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4.Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 October 2004 on cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws (Official Journal L 364, 09/12/2004 P. 0001 – 0011).