AN AMENDMENT to the Press Code passed by parliament on May 31 will come into force as of September 1. It is intended to soften some of the code’s more controversial aspects, the SITA newswire reported.
The most significant change pertains to the right of reply for public officials, who will no longer be able to insist on a published reply to factually correct stories that are published about them in their performance of public functions.
However, they will still have a right of reply to articles written about them as private individuals, in accordance with the Slovak Constitution. Also, people involved in criminal cases will be able to insist on publication of a reply.
The amendment also cancels penalties for publishers who refuse to publish a reply, the responsibility of publishers to reply, correct or add additional information, and complainants’ right to demand publication of both a reply and a correction.
