Law of the Republic of Poland on the Press (1984) (excerpts related to Freedom of Association and political parties) (English)
THE LAW ON THE PRESS, 26 January 1984 (unofficial translation, excerpt)
(Journal of Laws of 1984 N° 5, item 24; changes: Journal of Laws of 1988 N° 41, item 324; of 1989 N° 34, item 187; of 1990 N° 29, item 173; of 1991 N° 100, item 442).
CHAPTER 1. General Regulations
Article 1.
According to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland the press enjoys the freedom of speech and realises citizens’ rights for being honestly informed, openness of public life and social control and criticism.
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Article 4.
1. State organs, state enterprises and other state organisational units, and in the range of social and economic activity also cooperative organisations and persons running business activity on their own account are obliged to supply information to the press about their activity.
2. Refusal of furnishing information may occur only for the reason of preserving state and official secret and other secret protected by the Law.
3. On the request of the editor-in-chief a refusal is delivered to the interested editorial staff in a written form in the term of three days; the refusal should include indication of an organ, organisational unit or a person it comes from, the date of a refusal, editorial office it concerns, indication of information being its object and the reason for a refusal.
4. Refusal said in item 3. or failure in meeting the requirements specified in said regulation can be appealed to the Main Administrative Court in a term of one month; in the proceedings before the Court regulations of the Code of Administrative Procedure on appealing from administrative decisions to the court are applied accordingly.
5. Regulations of items 1-4 are applied accordingly to trade unions, autonomous organisations and other social organisations in the range of ordered to them tasks within the sphere of state administration and other similar public activity.
6. Regulations of items 3 and 4 do not concern organs of state authorities and jurisdiction.
Article 5.
1. Any citizen, according to the rule of freedom of speech and the right for criticism, can inform the press.
2. Nobody can be prejudiced or exposed to objection due to giving information to the press; if they acted within the limits allowed by the law.
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Article 8.
1. A publisher can be a legal or physical person or other organisational unit even if it did not possess legal status. In particular, a publisher can be a state organ, state enterprise, political organisation, trade union, cooperative, autonomous or other social organisation or a church or other religious union.
2. Political organisation, trade union, state enterprise, cooperative, autonomous and other social organisation and church or other religious union can realise publishing rights directly or via their own publishing house, as well as other publishing houses acting as publisher.
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