1.5 Print publications are not required to obtain permission to publish from state authorities. Analysis: Print publications have to be registered with the General Post Office. This permission is a formality and cannot be denied. The Press and Journalist (Amendment) Bill 2010, however, intends to empower the statutory Media Council to license newspapers annually and to revoke the license in case of breach of licensing conditions: The Council shall before issuing a license under this section take in account (sic) the following … (b) proof of existence of adequate technical facilities; and (c) social, cultural and economic values of the newspaper. On revocation of the license, it says: The Council may revoke a license issued under this section on the following grounds – (a) publishing material that is prejudicial to national security, stability and unity; (b) publishing any matter that is injurious to Uganda’s relations with new (sic) neighbours or friendly countries; (c) publishing material that amounts to economic sabotage; and (d) contravention of any condition imposed in the license. The proposals 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 licensing terms essentially provide a mechanism for bringing what the government may consider stubborn publications into line. If the bill becomes law, the Media Council will have powers similar to those of the Broadcasting Council under the Electronic Media Act (Cap 104) 2000 – which it used to shut down radio stations and to suspend journalists as happened during the September 2009 riots. The proposed changes contravene Article 29 (1) (a) of the constitution and fall short of best practice standards outlined in the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa. Section 8 (1) of the Declaration says: Any registration system for the print media shall not impose substantive restrictions on the right to freedom of expression. The scoring was done on the basis of the status quo without taking the above bill into account. 22 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER UGANDA 2010