SECTOR 1 the Official Secrets Act of 1956), the Key Points Act of 1980, the 2004 Criminal Procedures Act, and the 2002 Defence Act. The Public Service Act of 1995 (with amendments in 2012), as well as defence and security legislation, also prohibit civil servants from disclosing information without permission from the Permanent Secretary (PS) of their respective ministry. While “the rationale behind the law [Public Service Act] is national security, it can be misused for censoring the media”, a panellist remarked Additionally, the 2009 Communication Act allows for interception and monitoring of telephone and mobile phone conversations as well as e-mail messages. Communication service providers have to keep records of conversations at their own cost. Furthermore, in 2013 additional regulations were added to the Research, Science and Technology Act of 2004, making it unlawful to conduct research without permission by the government-appointed National Commission on Research, Science and Technology (NCRST) irrespective of whether such research is privately or government funded. The definitions of ‘research’ and a ‘research institute’ or a ‘person doing research’ are so broad that they potentially affect a wide variety of people, including doctors, academics, journalists, students or even children doing school projects. Failure to seek/gain such permissions can result in a fine of N$20,000 (1700 USD) or five years in prison, and an indefinite ban on conducting research in Namibia. In March 2015, the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) – together with the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and The Namibian newspaper – launched a High Court application to have this law tested for constitutionality, arguing that it violates fundamental rights set out in the Constitution, including the right to freedom of thought, freedom of expression, academic freedom, and the right to practise a trade or profession. Since independence there have been no cases of criminal defamation or crimen injuria, but rather civil defamation cases, which seem to have decreased in the past 4 years. Legally, the ability to work as a journalist in Namibia remains unrestricted. 16 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NAMIBIA 2015