SECTOR 1 offence and is liable on first conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years …” Section 39 defines “seditious intention” as, among others, “to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the person of the President, the Government as by law established or the Constitution”. The Anti-Terrorism Act 2002, under Section 9 (1), makes it a criminal offence, among others, to publish and disseminate news or materials “that promote terrorism” without precisely defining “terrorism”. A person convicted of this offence is “to suffer death” without the option of imprisonment. Also, Section 3 (1) c of the Third Schedule of the Act violates journalistic ethics by clearly excluding “journalistic material which a person holds in confidence and which consists of documents or of records other than documents” from the list of items that are subject to legal privilege during terrorist investigations. The Press and Journalist Act (Cap 105) 2000 (formerly Statute 1995) compels journalists to register with a statutory Media Council to get a “Practising Certificate” which has to be renewed every year. Section 28 (3) states that “no person shall practise journalism unless he is in possession of a valid practising certificate”. The certificate may be suspended for up to six months if a journalist is ‘guilty’ of “professional misconduct”. The Council is appointed by the minister responsible for information. Most journalists in Uganda, however, do not comply with this law and simply refuse to be registered. In a judgement in 2004, the Supreme Court annulled a provision in the Penal Code concerning the publication of “false news” as unconstitutional and suggested that other laws that infringe the freedom of the media could also be challenged. Despite this ruling, and since the 2007 African Media Barometer review, the government has become even tougher. It has proposed some draconian amendments to The Press and Journalist Act 2000. According to an advance copy1 The Press and Journalist (Amendment) Bill 2010 empowers the Media Council to license newspapers annually and to revoke the licence in case of breach of licensing conditions (more details under 1.5). The bill would give an inordinate amount of powers to the Media Council to determine, for example, what amounts to “material that is prejudicial to national security, stability and unity”. The entire licensing provision will likely be used to beat “offending” publications into line. 1 The government has also tabled before Parliament The Regulation of Interception of Communications Bill 2007 ” to reinforce the provisions of Part VII (Interception of Communications and Surveillance) of the Anti-Terrorism Act”. Under the bill, an “interception warrant” may be issued by the minister responsible for security upon receipt of an oral application from selected government institutions if there are “reasonable grounds” for the minister to believe that: This copy was in the possession of the panel. In early March 2010 the draft was presented to Cabinet, a step before going to Parliament AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER UGANDA 2010 13