Human rights commissioner concerned with TVN24 licence granting delay

On July 7, a group of Law and Justice lawmakers submitted a draft amendment to Poland's Broadcasting Act. The authors of the bill argue that it aims at "clarifying regulations enabling the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) to effectively counteract the possibility of radio and television broadcasters to be taken over by any entities from outside the European Union, including entities from countries posing an immediate threat to state security".

Commentators and experts agree that the planned changes are meant to target TVN. TVN24 channel is still waiting for the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) to extend its licence. The current one expires on September 26. The station filed for an extension in February 2020.

The KRRiT claims the problem lies in the "ownership situation" of the TVN Group. The company said in a statement that in 2015 the council had approved entry of American capital into TVN.

On July 27, the Sejm Culture and Media Committee approved the project with some of the proposed changes.

On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators issued a joint statement in which they warn the Polish government against adopting the said legislation, arguing that it "would infringe on a free, independent media and jeopardize U.S. media investments in Poland".

The Commissioner of Human Rights Marcin Wiącek has extended a letter regarding this issue to the head of the Council Witold Kołodziejski.

"It's not clear what has been causing this 1,5-year delay in KRRiT's decision-making," the RPO said. This was yet another call by the ombudsman upon the KRRiT regarding this situation. He made the previous one on July 12.

Wiącek stressed that "in a situation in which TVN24's legal and factual status hasn't changed since being granted the previous licence, the company still meets legal requirements to have its licence extended".

Obviously, in case any doubts, the Council is duty bound to carry out a proper analysis under the framework of licence granting procedure. However, the current delay in the process of granting licence to TVN24 channel by National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT), especially after the Council has already attempted to vote, raises serious concerns regarding respect for the petitioner's rights, as well as a thorough and proper functioning of the Council as a constitutional body, which should guide its actions as stated in the preamble to the Polish Constitution," the statement reads.

According to the ombudsman, "said delay leads to a violation of the petitioner's right to receiving decisions in a reasonable time".

Furthermore, Wiącek points out that the history of the KRRiT practice shows that in most cases licence extension decisions were made "almost automatically, with prior analysis".

He also reminded that "the Broadcasting Act entitles any broadcaster to licence extension, as long as it's filed at least one year before the previous licence's expiry date, which said condition being met by TVN".

The human rights commissioner also stressed that the Polish Television Holding, registered in Amsterdam, has never raised KRRiT's concerns as the owner of TVN and has been treated as a EU entity by the regulator.

Finally, Marcin Wiącek has asked chairman Witold Kołodziejski for explanations, especially regarding the reasons of the delay in examining TVN's request.