A Legislative Study Of Reporter’s Privilege

Reporters enjoy the right to refuse to testify in order to ensure the need for freedom of expression and the public’s right to know. This paper, which is based on other countries’legislative experience about reporter’s privilege, and combined with China’s actual national conditions, puts forward some ideas of trying to build reporter’s privilege in China. This article first discusses the concept, characteristics and theoretical basis of reporter’s privilege. And then put forward the static legal norms of our country’s present situation and the necessity of the legislation of reporter’s privilege. From the realistic point of view, this paper discusses the necessity of constructing reporter’s privilege in China, and through analysis the typical cases in reality, points out the current situation of the lack of legislation in reporter’s privilege. On the basis of further studying foreign legislative and practical experiences of reporter’s privilege, especially the international rules and typical countries such as America, Britain and Germany law about reporter refuse to license rights and the realistic cases, attempting to seek the specific ideas and methods of building reporter’s privilege in China. Finally, from three aspects of the legislative mode, legislative content and relevant supporting system, the article discusses the legislative conception of establishing the reporter’s privilege in our country. Especially in the reporter’s privilege content such as refused to open secret information sources; refused to open information content which will expose the information’s provider; refused to search and detain and so on, carries on the discussion from the substantive and procedural rights.