Parliament Privileges Act:
Media Council requests removal of two articles which contradict Constitution

The Media Council has also requested the Supreme Court to rule that two articles of the Parliament Privileges and Powers Act contradict the Constitution.

The council made this request the trial held today, following intervention by the council in the case filed by the State requesting to remove some articles from the Parliament Privileges and Powers Act.

In court today, the council said that articles 17 (a), 17 (b) and 18 (a) of the Parliament Privileges and Powers Act obstruct the rights and protection of journalists guaranteed in the Constitution, and so requested the court to rule that the two articles contradict the Constitution.

Article 17 of the act grants the parliament the power to summon any persons to the parliament or its committees to provide testimony or order to produce any information which the parliament may wish to seek.

The State has requested to remove three articles from the Parliament Privileges and Powers Act.

They are article 11 which states that MPs shall not be summoned to court or other institutions in a manner which obstructs them from attending parliament sessions, committees or other official duties; article 16 which states that an MP executing a sentence of less than one year must be allowed to attend parliament sittings and committees; and article 18 (b) which states that any person who withholds information requested by the parliament would be deemed to have disobeyed the orders of the parliament, and can be subjected to a criminal prosecution.