Licensing of Journalists

WHEREAS colegio membership by journalists is required by law in Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela; a university degree is required for the licensing of journalists in Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Haiti; and certification of journalists is required in Cuba WHEREAS a mandatory colegio membership law that would impact journalists has been enacted in Guatemala, and its legality is currently being considered by the Constitutional Court, which has temporarily suspended the law to safeguard freedom of speech WHEREAS the Inter-American Human Rights Court, in its 1985 Consultative Opinion OC-85, regarded mandatory colegio membership or licensing requirements as restrictions on the exercise of freedom of speech and of the press, which is protected under Article 13 of the 1969 American Convention on Human Rights WHEREAS a Brazilian federal court recently ruled that university degree requirements for the practice of journalism are unconstitutional and suspended such requirement nationwide WHEREAS Principle 8 of the Declaration of Chapultepec establishes that "he membership of journalists in guilds, their affiliation to professional and trade associations and the affiliation of the media with business groups must be strictly voluntary" THE MIDYEAR MEETING OF THE IAPA RESOLVES to call upon the government authorities of countries with mandatory colegio membership requirements and licensing requirements for the practice of journalism to declare such requirements unconstitutional or expressly eliminate them. to urge the Nicaraguan Supreme Court to rule favorably on the appeals filed against obligatory licensing of journalists