SECTOR 1 1.5 Print publications are not required to obtain permission to publish from state authorities. Since the enactment of Law 60-12 of 30 June 1960 on the freedom of the media, the system in Benin is one where you can publish without demanding authorization. In other words, all that one needs to start publishing a paper is to submit documents to the Ministry of the Interior that should indicate the title of the paper, the oice of the paper, the publishers, the name of the editor and the editor’s criminal record. A receipt is given when these are submitted. his receipt will have to be sent to HAAC if the paper is to be given legal status. What one of the panelists said, which should be noted here, is that in legal terms provisions have been made for getting authorization but this is not so in practice. For example, a paper published an edition whose irst article was entitled “All but Yayi in 2011” and it was sued not because of the content of the article, but because it had not met the legal conditions for registration. As from the time when the paper is duly registered, it can be submitted to satisfy the legal requirements and this should be done at least three working hours before the paper is launched. According to the conditions of Law 60-12 the submission has to be at the Ministry of the Interior and the court and since the new Law 97010 of 20 August 1997 was enacted, HAAC became the point of submission. he publisher is therefore obliged to cite his name as well as the number of copies of the paper that has been printed. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 3.2 (2007=n/a ; 2009=4.6) AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER BENIN 2011 79