Foundation and status
The Haute Autorité de la Communication Audiovisuelle is an independent administrative authority, which was founded following a political decision to end the State monopoly of the audiovisual communication sector. Its main mission is to ensure the freedom of audiovisual communication, and the freedom of audiovisual enterprise, in the respect of universal principles of pluralism and information objectivity, as well as the values of Moroccan civilization.
The Haute Autorité is composed of two complementary structures:
The Conseil Supérieur de la Communication Audiovisuelle (CSCA), decision-making body, and the Direction Générale de la Communication Audiovisuelle (DGCA), organ of preparation and execution of the Conseil’s decisions.
The Conseil Supérieur is composed of nine members. The President and four members are appointed by His Majesty the King,two members are appointed by the Prime Minister, and two members are respectively appointed by the President of the Chambre des Représentants and by the President of the Chambre des Conseillers.
The General Directorate is composed of five departments and three units depending on the General Director: the administrative and financial department, the department for studies and research, the department for programme monitoring, the department for technical infrastructures and technologies, the legal department, and the unities of informatics, audit and management control, and documentation.
Ninety-one persons currently work for the Haute Autorité.
Competencies
The Dahir n° 1-02-212 of Journada II 1423 (31st August 2002) which institutes the Haute Autorité de la Communication Audiovisuelle, modified by Dahir n° 1-03-302 of 16th Ramadan 1424 (11th November 2003), confers a large set of responsibilities to the Conseil.
These responsibilities concern in particular the protection of free communication of ideas and opinions, the guarantee of respect of information pluralism in the respect of the laws and values of Moroccan civilization, youth protection, respect of honour and persons’ dignity.
The attributions of the Conseil can be summarized as follows:
Counselling and expertise functions
- The Conseil Supérieur de la Communication Audiovisuelle (CSCA) gives opinions to His Majesty, to the government and the parliament on all questions regarding the sector of audiovisual communication which are submitted to it;
- The CSCA proposes to His Majesty a choice of persons whose appointment depend on His Majesty because of the functions or civil office they have to hold at the head of the public organisms intervening in the audiovisual area;
- The CSCA gives opinions to the Parliament and Government on all issues regarding the area of audiovisual communication which are submitted to it by the Prime Minister or by the presidents of the Parliament chambers;
- The CSCA obligatorily gives opinions to the Prime Minister on draft laws or decrees regarding the area of audiovisual communication, before they are presented to the Council of Ministers;
- The CSCA obligatorily gives opinions to the presidents of the two Chambers on draft laws regarding the area of audiovisual communication, before they are examined by the concerned Chamber;
- The CSCA proposes to the government measures of any kind, in particular legal, likely to ensure the respect of the principles mentioned in the preamble of the dahir instituting the Haute Autorité. The CSCA suggests changes to laws and rules to the government, which are necessary in regard of the technological, economic, social and cultural evolution of the audiovisual activities;
- The CSCA can be required by the judiciary authority to give opinion on complaints based on violations of the legislation or rules regarding audiovisual communication that the said authority comes to have knowledge of .
- The CSCA is allowed to refer to the competent authorities on practices contrary to the law of freedom of prices and competition. These said authorities can also require its opinion.
The regulatory functions:
- Approval of the “cahiers des charges” (licence) of the public operators:
The “cahiers des charges” of public operators are made by the government, and approved by the Haute Autorité. These “cahiers des charges” define the obligations of the national societies of audiovisual public sector, in particular those regarding their public service missions.
- Licences and authorizations:
The CSCA instructs the applications for the creation and operation of private firms of audiovisual communication, establishes the “cahiers des charges” and grants the related licences and authorizations, in compliance with the laws and rules in force.
- Management of frequencies for audiovisual communication:
The CSCA allocates to audiovisual operators the hertzian terrestrial frequencies which are devoted to audiovisual communication by the national frequency plan. To this end, the Conseil has set up a coordination commission with the “Agence Nationale de Réglementation des Télécommunications” (ANRT), which is in charge for the State of the spectrum management and control.
Designing the rules essential to the respect of pluralistic expression of ideas and opinions and equity in access to the air:
In the absence of legislative or regulatory provisions in force, the Haute Autorité is authorized to set up the rules necessary to:
-the respect of pluralistic expression of ideas and opinions, in particular as regards political information, in order to allow the political parties, the unions, the professional and representative organizations in the economic area, as well as other social organizations with a national scope, to be granted an airtime on the public service of radio and television, in accordance with the significance of their representation and other objective criteria;
-the respect of the equity required for political organizations, unions and professional chambers, or candidates to the election at the Chambre des Représentants or Chambre des Conseillers, as regard production conditions, programming and broadcasting of emissions related to the electoral campaigns.
- The regulation of audience measurement:
It also edicts the juridical and technical standards applicable to the measuring of the audience of audiovisual communication operators.
Control and sanction
The CSCA ensures the respect, by all authorities or organs concerned, of the laws and rules applicable to audiovisual communication.
- Programmes monitoring:
The CSCA ensures the respect by all audiovisual communication operators, public and private, operating on the Moroccan territory, of the laws and rules in force, as well as of the obligations prescribed in their “cahier des charges”.
The main fields of intervention for the Conseil are the pluralistic expression of ideas and opinions, honesty of information, respect of persons’ dignity, childhood and youth protection, advertisement, and contributions of the channels to the national audiovisual and cinematographic production and the promotion of the Arabic and Amazigh languages.
- Election campaigns on radio and television:
The CSCA ensures the respect of the laws and regulations applicable to the rules and conditions of production, programming, and broadcasting related to the electoral campaigns that the audiovisual communication organisms of both public and private sectors must comply with.
- Sanctioning competencies:
As a regulatory authority, the CSCA has the power to sanction the violations, by the audiovisual operators, of the laws and rules in force, and of the provisions of their previously established “cahiers des missions et des charges”.
International cooperation:
In parallel with its recent integration to the Mediterranean Network of Regulatory Authorities, the Haute Autorité de la Communication Audiovisuelle also plays an active role in the African Communication Regulation Authorities Network (ACRAN).
Composition
The CSCA is composed of nine members, including its President and four members appointed by Our Majesty, two members appointed by the Prime Minister for a five-year mandate, renewable once, and two members appointed respectively by the President of the Chambre des Représentants and the President of the Chambre des Conseillers, for the same term and in the same conditions of mandate renewal as for the members appointed by the Prime Minister. (first paragraph of Article 6 of Dahir n°1-02-212 instituting the Haute Autorité de la Communication Audiovisuelle).
The members of the Conseil supérieur de la communication audiovisuelle are:
- Latifa Ahkarbach, President of the Council, appointed 3 December 2018;
- Narjiss Reghay, Member, appointed 3 December 2018 ;
- Jaafar Kansoussi, Member, appointed 3 December 2018 ;
- Ali Bakkali Hassani, Member, appointed 3 December 2018 ;
- Abdelkader Chaoui, Member, appointed 3 December 2018 ;
- Fatima Baroudi, Member, appointed 3 December 2018 ;
- Khalil El Alami Idrissi, Member, appointed 3 December 2018 ;
- Badia Radi, Member, appointed 3 December 2018 ;
- Mohamed El Maazouz, Member, appointed 3 December 2018.
Contact
Haute Autorité de la Communication Audiovisuelle
Mahaj Ryad – Imm H&S B.P. 20590 – Rabat Ryad
Téléphone : (+212) 37 57 96 00
Fax : (+212) 37 71 42 74
e-mail : info@haca.ma
Website : www.haca.ma
Links
Website of Haute Autorité de la Communication Audiovisuelle www.haca.ma
Website of the Ministry of communication www.mincom.gov.ma