The legal task force constituted to review media laws has been advised to recommend laws in line with the Constitution, national integrity, national interest and freedom of expression.
This was stated in the tenth meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage (IB&NH) which was held in Islamabad on Tuesday.
The meeting was chaired by member National Assembly Marvi Memon and was attended by MNA Murad Saeed, Waseem Akhtar Shaikh, Muhammad Tallal, Parveen Masood Bhatti, Syed Amir Ali Shah Jamote, Naeema Kishwar Khan, Arifa Khalid Parvez, Marriyum Aurangzeb and Belum Hasnain. Federal Secretary Information and representatives from the Ministry of IB&NH and Law Division were also present.
The ten-member special Media Laws Review Task Force was constituted in the ninth meeting of the standing committee to conduct a comprehensive review of all existing laws, rules, regulations at the federal, provincial and local levels which are media-related laws or have a bearing on the operation and output of the media.
Members of the task force include legal experts, Babar Sattar, Barrister Salman Afridi, Rizwan Ejaz, Nawazish Peerzada, Faisal Siddiqi, Ayub Baloch, Yasmeen Aftab Ali and Afia Salam. More experts may be added to further strengthen the task force.
The task force also has to suggest guidelines for proper implementation of the Media Laws and develop a monitoring framework for oversights on the implementation of the existing and the amended media laws, rules and regulations.
Highlighting the need for appraisal of media related laws, the standing committee had decided to form a special task force to review and suggest amendments in the existing media laws. A report by the Media Commission, compiled by Javed Jabbar, has made the same recommendation.
The standing committee’s meeting was held to commence the work of the Media Laws Review Task Force as per the finalised Terms of Reference. Members of the standing committee resolved that the task force should complete the task and conclude the recommendations in 4 to 6 months. Laws pertaining to heritage, electronic, print, broadcasting, copyright, classical media, below the line advertising, journalists laws and any other media related laws would be reviewed by the legal taskforce.
