Legal Counselor for Media Personnel ..

Technical and Legal Questions with Answers And a Supplement Including the Most  Significant Relevant Media Legislations

Saman Fawzi

‘NIRIJ’ Network for Investigative Journalism published a book entitled ‘Legal Counselor for Media Personnel’, by Dr. Saman Fawzi, within the framework of the   efforts exerted to push forward the publication of books capable of consolidating the investigative and professional journalism work.

The 200- A4 page book exposes the legal fundamentals of journalistic work in Iraq.  It submits dozens of the pivotal legal and technical questions and answers related to press work, and gives examples of common errors. It defines the journalists’ lawful and moral rights and ethical obligations in a manner that can enable them to accomplish their profound reports and investigations efficiently. Among other worthwhile items, the book includes a supplement containing all the legal legislations connected with the journalistic line of work.

Dr. Saman Fawzi, is a former member of the Legal Committee in the Iraqi parliament, and a university professor and a researcher specialized in the two legal and information spheres, besides being an author of several published books in these two spheres.

The book which had been subjugated to review and precision by NIRIJ Network, presents the legal pillars of journalistic work in Iraq. To achieve such an objective, it introduces a number of pivotal legal and technical questions and answers connected with journalism. Thus, it can enrich the media route through the introduction of crucial legal experiences that will no doubt benefit journalists in their achievement of miscellaneous stories, and profound investigative reports.

The book answers around one hundred questions regarded as the most common in the press world. It clarifies the journalists’ legal rights and duties and other moral obligations, in addition to introducing detailed information about the most prominent intricacies and challenges facing media personnel, as well as the legal experiences regarded as largely indispensable in their work. It also offers a briefing of the loopholes and points of weaknesses in the Iraqi laws that are corresponding to journalism and media profession.

Meanwhile, the book introduces a supplement containing all the laws that are now effective in governing journalism and information profession, whether those issued in Iraq or in Kurdistan Province. This includes the Iraq’s law of journalists’ rights,  Iraq’s law of publications, Iraq’s law of Journalists’ syndicate, the law of press work in Kurdistan, Kurdistan’s law of publications, the law of the journalists’ rights to get free access to information  in Iraq’s Kurdistan, and last but not least  the law of Kurdistan’s journalists’ syndicate.

It is worthwhile to refer here that copies of this book have been dispatched to several Iraqi universities to take advantage of it as a subsidiary curriculum in the field of journalistic work and the legislations governing it.

The valuable contents of the book show how to deal with various information and other controversial stories, in addition to showing media personnel how to protect themselves through being quite aware of the legislations connected with their work.