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Enactment of so-called "muzzle act" and its impact on czech media
Jozífek, Radek ; Šmíd, Milan (advisor) ; Benda, Josef (referee)
This thesis deals with the Act no. 52/2009 Coll., which amends the Act no. 141/1961 Coll. (Penal Procedure Code), as amended by latter Acts, and some other Acts. Because of its alleged censorial character, it was often referred to as the "Muzzle Act" by local media. The thesis is composed of five parts. The first one describes methods used in the rest of the text, the second one explains main theoretical concepts and essential topics that are important for understanding the other parts - right to privacy, right to information, publication of transcripts obtained by eavesdropping devices etc. It also describes contents of the "Muzzle Act" and its amendment. The third part reviews how the Act passed the legislative process in both chambers of the Parliament, including protests of media and some scholars against it. All the main reasons why protestors considered the Act censorial or even unconstitutional are drawn up in the fourth part of the thesis. It also sums up thoughts and confronts thoughts of people who argued in favour of the Act. In the fifth part, journalists from Czech News Agency (ČTK), daily newspaper Mladá fronta DNES, weekly magazine Respekt and news website Aktuálně.cz describe how the Act influenced their working habits and contents of their media. One specialist in the field of journalism...
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