CROATIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT EXTENDS VALIDITY OF MEDIA ACT

ZAGREB, Aug 30 (Hina) - The Croatian Constitutional Court decided on Thursday to extend the validity of the Mass Media Act until September 30 this year. In an explanation of the decision, the Court recalled that at the proposal of the Croatian Parliament on June 28 it had postponed the expiry of the law until August 31, until which time it was expected that Council of Europe experts would have presented their opinion on the text of a new bill and that the new bill would have been passed. The Council of Europe has presented its views this month but since Parliament has not yet discussed the bill the old law will be in effect for another month. The Constitutional Court has declared the law null and void owing to an error in the procedure of its passage and it should have ceased to be valid on June 30. (hina) vm jn 301555 MET aug 96