Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 31, 1993 N 2334 On additional guarantees of citizens' rights to information.
Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 31, 1993 N 2334
«On additional guarantees of citizens' rights to information»
Based on the fact that the right to information is one of the fundamental human rights;
striving to expand the real opportunities of citizens and their associations to actively participate in the management of state and public affairs, to promote the development of local self-government;
in order to ensure the freedom of citizens to receive information about the activities of legislative, executive and judicial authorities;
based on paragraph 4 of Article 29 and paragraph 2 of Article 80 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, I decree:
1. The Commission of Legislative Proposals under the President of the Russian Federation shall develop a draft Law of the Russian Federation «On the Right to Information» and submit it to the President of the Russian Federation for inclusion in the Federal Assembly as a priority legislative initiative.
2. Until the adoption of the relevant federal law, the norms established by this Decree shall apply.
3. The activities of state bodies, organizations and enterprises, public associations, and officials are carried out on the principles of information openness, which is expressed in:
- the availability to citizens of information of public interest or affecting the personal interests of citizens;
- the systematic informing of citizens about proposed or adopted decisions;
- the exercise by citizens of control over the activities of state bodies, organizations and enterprises, public associations, officials and the decisions they make related to the observance, protection, and defense of the rights and legitimate interests of citizens.
4. Establish that the information programs of state television and radio broadcasting companies must communicate to citizens the main provisions of legal acts and decisions of state bodies on the main issues of domestic and foreign policy on the day of their release.
5. State television and radio broadcasting companies shall create cycles of programs (programs) explaining the activities of federal legislative, executive and judicial authorities, the essence of the decisions taken, with the involvement of leading specialists, experts, and developers of relevant documents in the work on these programs.
Establish that the volume and frequency of the release of these programs shall be determined by the heads of state television and radio broadcasting companies independently.
6. The activities of federal legislative, executive and judicial bodies are covered in the programs of state television and radio broadcasting companies in equal volumes. Control over the objectivity of coverage of such activities is carried out by the Judicial Chamber for Information Disputes under the President of the Russian Federation.
7. Guided by paragraph 4 of Article 15 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, when covering the activities of the Federal Assembly, the media should follow Resolution No. 820 (1984) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the relations of state parliaments with the media (Amendment of Acts of the President and the Government of the Russian Federation, 1993, No. 15, Article 1340), including taking into account the limitations of television channels:
- bring the content of deputies' speeches in debates on bills to the attention of their constituents, as a rule, through print media;
- publish a greater number of educational articles on parliamentary activities.
To extend the provisions of Resolution No. 820 (1984) to the relations of other federal government bodies with the mass media, including establishing the following principles for conducting live television and radio broadcasts or recorded broadcasts that are the same for all federal bodies:
- the need for a television and radio broadcasting company to obtain consent to broadcast a meeting of the relevant federal government body;
- advance notice to television and radio broadcasting companies of the proposed consideration of the most important issues of public interest; choice of time (volume) of broadcasting and its form (live or recorded) by the television and radio broadcasting company.
8. The Federal Service of Russia for Television and Radio Broadcasting shall strengthen control over strict compliance by television and radio broadcasting organizations with the Law of the Russian Federation «On Mass Media».
9. The decree shall enter into force upon signing.
President of the Russian Federation B. YELTSIN