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Recent
Russian Decrees
A combination of the desperate
financial status of the Russian mass media and a program
of consolidation by the President has led to a series of
decrees since the December 12 elections. Two
decrees (one published here) relate to increased
reinforcement of state sponsorship over ITAR-Tass and
RIA-Novosti. The December 18 state broadcasting
decree reflects a renewed commitment of financial
benefits for the state broadcasting apparatus while
setting the stage for significant changes. The
decree addresses, in particular, the huge outlays for
signal distribution charged by the Communications
Ministry. This decree does not seem to address the
needs of private broadcasters who are also vulnerable to
high transmission costs. The December 18 decree
also calls upon the Council of Ministers to submit
proposals for the reduction of state broadcasters
transmission time.
The January 10 decree of Viktor
Chernomyrdin and President Yeltsin’s December 31
decree dealing with the transformation of the Information
Tribunal are the subjects of the first two articles of
this Newsletter. The December 31 decree on
information rights is followed by a comment.
Decree No.
15 of the Government of the Russian Federation: “Issues
Ensuring Publication and Dissemination of Mass
Media Information and Printed Matter”
The Government of the Russian Federation decrees:
1. To suspend for three months
implementation of decree No. 1233 of the Russian
Federation Council of Ministers-Government “On the
reevaluation of the fixed capital (funds) of enterprises
and organizations” of November 25, 1993 as it
applies to revaluation of the fixed capital of printing
enterprises, including those forming part of
publishing-printing complexes.
The Russian Federation Finance
Ministry and the Russian Federation Economics Ministry in
conjunction with the Russian Federation Committee for the
Press shall develop within this period a mechanism for
compensating print mass media for the additional
expenditures incurred in implementing this decree.
2. The Russian Federation Committee
for the Press in conjunction with interested ministries,
departments and organizations shall prepare within one
month proposals:
— on preferential taxation of the
print mass media, as well as publications of
children’s, educational and other socially important
literature;
— on a system of state subsidies
for the print mass media.
3. The Russian Federation Ministry of
Communications in conjunction with interested
organizations shall prepare within one month proposals to
improve the system for delivery and dissemination of the
print mass media.
4. The Russian Federation State
Committee for the Management of State Property and the
Russian Federation Committee for the Press in conjunction
with interested ministries, departments and organizations
shall submit proposals within two months to the Russian
Federation Government on the procedure for privatization
of printing enterprises, including those forming part of
publishing-printing complexes. These proposals
shall be co-ordinated with the participation of editorial
collectives at mass media outlets and book publishers in
their plans for stock issuances and privatization.
[Signed] V. Chernomyrdin, Chairman of the
Russian Federation Government
[Dated] Moscow, 10th
January 1994
Decree No.
2335 of the President of the Russian Federation: “On
the Presidential Judicial Chamber for Information
Disputes” (See article on this decree in the
Newsletter.)
With a view toward guaranteeing citizens’ right to
information secured in Article 29 of the Russian
Federation Constitution, the observance of their legal
interests in this sphere, and the effective fulfillment
by the President of the Russian Federation of the
constitutional duty to act as guarantor of human and
civil rights and freedoms, I decree the following:
1. To recognize the constructive activity of the
Information Arbitration Tribunal which was formed for the
period of the 1993 election campaign, and to rule that
its powers ended on December 31, 1993 following the
conclusion of the 1993 election campaign.
2. Using the positive experience of
the Information Arbitration Tribunal, to create a
permanent Judicial Chamber for Information Disputes under
the President of the Russian Federation, keeping in mind
that this Judicial Chamber is not part of the system of
federal courts of the Russian Federation.
3. To establish that the basic
functions of the Judicial Chamber are:
— to assist the President of the
Russian Federation in defending rights and freedoms in
the mass information sphere;
— to guarantee the objectivity
and authenticity of news reporting;
— to guarantee the principle of
equality in the mass information sphere;
— to guarantee the protection of
the moral interests of children and adolescents in the
mass media;
— to guarantee the principle of
pluralism in informational and socio-political television
and radio programs;
— to resolve disputes about the
allocation of radio and television air time between
factions in the Federal Assembly;
— to correct factual errors in
mass media news reports affecting public interests;
— to issue warnings to mass media
in accordance with article 16 of the Russian Federation
law “On the Mass Media” in the absence of the
Russian Federation Ministry of Press and Information.
4. To appoint Anatoli Borisovich
Vengerov as Chairman of the Presidential Judicial Chamber
for Information Disputes.
5. To appoint members of the
Presidential Judicial Chamber for Information Disputes.
6. The Chairman of the Judicial
Chamber shall submit within three weeks a draft statute
governing the Presidential Judicial Chamber for
Information Disputes for adoption according to
established procedure.
7. To provide support for the Judicial
Chamber’s activity, to form a secretariat of the
Presidential Judicial Chamber for Information Disputes as
a working apparatus with the status of department within
the administration of the President of the Russian
Federation. The leader of the administration of the
President of Russian Federation is to approve the
structure and numerical strength of the working
apparatus.
8. This decree enters into force the
moment it is signed.
[Signed] B. Yeltsin, President of the Russian
Federation
[Dated] Moscow, 31st December,
1993
Decree No.
2334 of the President of the Russian Federation: “On
Supplementary Guarantees of Citizens’ Rights to
Information”
Proceeding from the premise that the right to information
is one of man’s fundamental rights;
Striving to broaden the real
opportunities for citizens and their associations to
participate actively in the management of state and
public affairs and to assist the development of local
self-government;
To guarantee that citizens freely
receive information about the activity of the bodies of
legislative, executive, and judicial power;
Based on Article 29(4) and Article
80(2) of the Russian Federation Constitution, I decree:
1. That the Presidential Commission on
Legislative Proposals shall develop a draft Russian
Federation law “On the Right to Information”
and present it to the President of the Russian Federation
for submission to the Federal Assembly as a priority
legislative initiative.
2. That until the appropriate federal
law has been adopted, the norms set forth by this decree
shall remain in effect.
3. That the activity of state bodies,
organizations and enterprises, public associations and
officials shall be carried out on the principles of
information openness, as expressed in:
— Citizens’ access to
information of public interest or affecting
citizens’ personal interests;
— Citizens being systematically
informed of proposed or adopted decisions;
— The exercise of control by
citizens over the activity of state bodies, organizations
and enterprises, public associations and officials and
over decisions made by them in connection with the
observance, protection and defense of citizens’
rights and legal interests.
4. That information programs of state
radio and television broadcasting companies’ shall
inform citizens without fail of the principal provisions
of legal acts and decisions of state bodies on
fundamental domestic and foreign policy questions on the
day they are issued.
5. State television and radio
broadcasting companies shall produce a series of
broadcasts (programs) explaining the activity of federal
legislative, executive and judicial bodies and presenting
the essence of the decisions made, using leading
specialists, experts, and drafters of the relevant
documents to work on such programs.
The length and frequency of the
broadcasting of such programs shall be determined
autonomously by the leaders of state television and radio
broadcasting companies.
6. The activity of federal
legislative, executive, and judicial bodies shall receive
equal coverage in the programs of state television and
radio broadcasting companies.
The Presidential Judicial Chamber for
Information Disputes shall supervise the objectivity of
the coverage of such activity.
7. Guided by Article 15(4) of the
Russian Federation Constitution, mass media coverage of
the Federal Assembly shall follow Resolution No 820
(1984) of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly on
Relations between State Parliaments and Mass Media
(Collected Acts of the Russian Federation President and
Government, 1993, No 15, Article 1340), keeping in mind
the limited number of television channels:
— As a rule, the content of
deputies’ speeches in debates on draft legislation
shall be brought to the attention of their voters via
publication in the print media;
— A greater number of articles of
an educational nature about parliamentary activity shall
be published.
The provisions of Resolution No 820
(1984) shall apply to relations between other federal
bodies of state power and the mass media, and this
includes establishing the following principles which
shall apply to all federal bodies for the production of
live and recorded television and radio broadcasts:
— The need for a television or
radio broadcasting company to obtain consent to make a
transmission from a session of the relevant federal body
of state power;
— The timely notification of
television and radio broadcasting companies about the
proposed consideration of the most important questions of
public interest;
— Decisions as to the time
(length) of broadcasts and their form (live or recorded)
shall be made by television and radio companies.
8. The Russian Federal Service for
Television and Radio Broadcasting shall strengthen
supervision over television and radio companies’
strict observance of the Russian Federation Law “On
the Mass Media.”
9. This decree comes into force the
moment it is signed.
[Signed] B. Yeltsin,
President of the Russian Federation
[Dated] Moscow, December
31, 1993
Commentary
The above decree has a combination of
important objectives. On the one hand, it has the
rhetoric of a right to information decree, one that
protects the citizens’ right of access to government
speeches and proceedings that is thought to be vital to
democratic processes; on the other hand, it provides
opportunities for intervention in the press by providing
an affirmative obligation to inform citizens of
fundamental decrees immediately, and obligating the state
television and radio stations to produce and broadcast
certain programs that educate the society as to the
function of constitutional bodies. In this respect,
the decree has the flavor of the old relationship between
“founder” and official organ, and some kinship
to the American “fairness doctrine.” The
Judicial Chamber is charged with ensuring objectivity
under this provision.
Decree of the President
of the Russian Federation: “On the
Information Telegraph Agency of Russia”
With a view toward improving further the operation of the
Information Telegraph Agency of Russia [ITAR], creating
the conditions for guaranteeing high quality and
promptness in the gathering and dissemination of
information, and also in accordance with Decree No 1598
of the President of the Russian Federation of October 7,
1993 “On Legal Regulation in the Period of the
Stage-by-stage Constitutional Reform in the Russian
Federation” I decree:
1. That it shall be established that
the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia is the
successor to the former Telegraphic Agency of the Soviet
Union [TASS].
2. That the Council of
Ministers-government of the Russian Federation shall
approve the regulations of the Information Telegraph
Agency of Russia as a central state news agency in the
form of a state-owned enterprise.
3. That ministries, state committees
and departments of the Russian Federation shall send
official documents and materials intended for
dissemination in the mass media to the Agency on a
priority basis.
4. Starting from 1994, during drafting
of the budget of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of
Finance of the Russian Federation shall provide for the
financing, under separate heading, of expenses including
expenditures on the development of the material and
technical infrastructure, capital construction,
implementation of social programs for the Agency’s
staff, operational needs, maintenance of the network of
correspondents, payment for communications services, and
information services to the presidential administration
of the Russian Federation, the Council of
Ministers-government of the Russian Federation, and other
central bodies of federal executive power.
5. The Russian Federation State
Committee for the Management of State Property shall:
— Transfer to the Agency’s
management the buildings and structures appearing on the
balance sheet of the former Telegraphic Agency of the
Soviet Union, located on the territory of the Russian
Federation and abroad;
— Secure the Agency’s
retention of leased buildings and structures in federal
ownership.
6. That it be recommended to the
government of the city of Moscow that it lease to the
Agency the buildings and structures under the state
ownership of the city of Moscow and previously leased to
the former Telegraphic Agency of the Soviet Union.
7. That the Agency in 1994 shall be
exempt from:
— The payment of customs duties
on materials and technical equipment exported from the
customs territory of the Russian Federation and
designated for the use of the news operations of
correspondents’ offices and departments of the
Agency abroad;
— The payment of value added tax
and customs duties on materials and technical equipment
designated for the gathering, processing and transmission
of news and which are acquired through funds of the
Agency and which are also imported into the customs
territory of the Russian Federation by the Agency.
8. The currency and economy commission
of the Russian Federation Council of Ministers-government
shall within one month examine through established
procedures the question of releasing the Agency in 1994
from the compulsory sale of a portion of its hard
currency receipts obtained from the provisions of
information and services, and to present its proposals to
the President of the Russian Federation.
9. The Russian Federation Ministry of
Transport shall in 1994 provide throughout the territory
of the Russian Federation transit for foreign specialists
working in accordance with agreements and contracts with
the Agency on the basis of non-monetary exchange, as well
as the carriage of their freight, with payment of
expenditures in rubles based on tariffs which apply to
Russian citizens.
10. The bodies of executive power of
the republics within the Russian Federation, and of
krays, oblasts, autonomous regions, and the cities of
Moscow and St Petersburg are urged to produce accounts
for the stay of foreign citizens who come to the Russian
Federation for work in accordance with agreements and
contracts with the Agency on the basis of non-monetary
exchange, and in rubles based on tariffs which apply to
Russian citizens.
11. The Russian Federation Ministry of
Communications shall:
— give the Agency’s
director-general and deputies the right to send telegrams
stamped “government”;
— charge the Agency, and the
enterprises, organizations, correspondents, offices, and
departments under its jurisdiction, the regulated state
prices and tariffs in rubles which apply for budget
organizations for any services provided by the
enterprises of the communications sector.
12. The Russian Federation Ministry
for Foreign Affairs shall provide visa support for the
Agency, and work passes, including for those working
abroad.
13. The Russian Federation Ministry of
the Interior shall beginning on January 1, 1994 include
the Agency on its list of special-purpose facilities.
14. The Agency’s director-general
shall have five deputies, including a first deputy,
appointed by the Russian Federation Council of
Ministers-government.
15. The social security and medical
provisions offered to directors and executives at Russian
Federation ministries shall be extended to the
Agency’s director, deputy directors and board
members.
16. This decree shall be submitted for
examination by the Federal Assembly of the Russian
Federation.
17. This decree enters into force from
the moment it is signed.
[Signed] B. Yeltsin, President of the
Russian Federation
[Dated] Moscow, 22nd
December, 1993
Decree No.
2206 “On Urgent Measures to Support State
Television and Radio Broadcasting”
With a
view toward creating additional guarantees for the
activity of state television and radio companies and
providing the Russian Federation population with
uninterrupted, timely and comprehensive information, and
in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3 of Decree No. 1598
of the President of the Russian Federation of 7th
October, 1993, “On Legal Regulation in the Period of
Stage-by-stage Constitutional Reform in the Russian
Federation,” I decree:
1. That it be established that state
communications enterprises provide the dissemination of
television and radio programs, state television and radio
companies, including regional companies (hereinafter
referred to as state television and radio companies) all
types of services at regulated state prices and tariffs
within the limits of the volume of broadcasting financed
from the Russian Federation republican budget.
2. That the Russian Federation
Ministry of Finances allot to state television and radio
companies in 1993 the necessary funds for paying off
debts for the leasing of international communications
channels and radio transmitters.
3. That the Russian Federation
Government Currency-Economic Commission examine within a
month, within the established procedure, the question of
exempting as of 1st January 1994 state television and
radio companies and state communications enterprises
ensuring the dissemination of their programs from the
compulsory sale of part of their currency profit on the
internal currency market, on condition that the exempted
currency funds be used for the consolidation of their
material and technical base and to make conforming
proposals to the President of the Russian Federation.
4. That in 1994 television and radio
broadcasting equipment (photographic, studio, radio,
broadcasting equipment and video recording and computer
graphics equipment and spare parts for this equipment and
expendable materials) acquired using Russian Federation
republic budget funds or using the funds of state
television and radio companies and state communications
enterprises for the dissemination their programs and
imported onto the customs territory of the Russian
Federation by these television and radio companies and
communications enterprises be exempt from value added tax
and the imposition of customs duty.
That it be established that the
technical equipment acquired on preferential terms cannot
be transferred to the accounts of other organizations
prior to the expiration of their normal periods of
operation.
5. That as of January 1, 1994, the
operation of the Russian Federation Supreme Soviet 19th
May 1993 Decree “On Measures to Improve Settlements
for Communications Services” be suspended with
respect to state television and radio companies until the
adoption of the relevant decision by the Russian
Federation Federal Assembly.
6. That the Russian Federation Council
of Ministers-Government develop within three months and
introduce, pursuant to the established procedure for the
examination of the Russian Federation Federal Assembly, a
draft federal program for the development of state
television and radio broadcasting.
7. That the state television and radio
companies within one month submit to the Russian
Federation Council of Ministers-Government proposals for
the possible reduction of the amount of television and
radio broadcasting time.
8. That this decree be submitted for
the examination of the Russian Federation Federal
Assembly.
9. That this decree enters into force
from the moment it is published.
[Signed] B. Yeltsin,
Russian Federation President
[Dated] Moscow, 18th
December 1993.
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