By WILLIAM HORSLEY, CJA Executive Committee member and International Director of the Centre for Freedom of the Media.
Eight years have passed since CJA members from around the world met at our Congress in London, and voted to work with like-minded Commonwealth civil society associations to get the member states to accept a set of principles protecting journalists against a rising tide of violence and legal harassment.
When the 56 Heads of Government meet at their Summit in Samoa in October, they are expected to adopt the Commonwealth Principles on Freedom of Expression and the Role of the Media in Good Governance which were first adopted by their Law Ministers in 2022. When that happens, those Media Principles will officially become part of the Commonwealth’s fundamental political principles, along with the 2003 Latimer House Principles of democratic government, based on the strict separation of powers between the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary in each member country. A small piece of history will be made.
In the Preamble to the Media Principles the states also speak of “welcoming, in the spirit of partnership”, the valuable contribution of the six concerned Accredited Organisations, including the CJA, in promoting democracy human rights and good governance. And they commit themselves to “effective implementation” of the eleven articles contained in the Principles. So, their adoption at heads-of-government level should mark a turning-point towards meaningful and practical measures to give journalists and others genuine protection in accordance with the obligations set out in international human rights and humanitarian law (Article 7 of the Principles).
Recently civil society groups like PEN Internationalhttps://authors.org.nz/resolution-on-criminal-defamation-and-strategic-lawsuits-against-public-participation-slapps/ , as well as UNESCO and regional human rights institutions, have called with increasing urgency for an end to the use of criminal defamation and other laws that undermine freedom of expression, lead to self-censorship, and discourage the investigative journalism that is necessary in a healthy democracy.
Most Commonwealth countries are among more than 160 states around the world which still maintain laws that criminalise journalists for defamation, seditious libel and other offences. The CJA will be working closely with like-minded Commonwealth organisations to bring about the repeal of criminal defamation and insult laws, including SLAPPs (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation), which impede legitimate journalistic work and can lead to punitive fines or even prison sentences.
CJA members can take heart. Leading international human rights lawyers have expressed active support for the Commonwealth Media Principles, and they call especially for the repeal of oppressive colonial laws that allow criminal penalties for defamation, libel and sedition. Karuna Nundy, a lawyer at the Supreme Court of India and member of the influential High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, published this article ‘Strengthening Press Freedom: New Media Principles for Commonwealth States’ for the respected international law journal Just Security.
She says: “The Commonwealth cannot, like erstwhile colonial powers, stand silent and allow the persecution of journalists while democracy withers”.
