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P
a n a m a 6. MANDATORY LICENSING AND UNIVERSITY
DEGREE REQUIREMENTS The Constitution provides in Art. 40: ?Every person is free
to practice any profession or trade subject to regulations established
by Law as to proficiency, morals, social foresight and security,
associations, public health, and mandatory labor union and other
membership dues paid.? There is no obligation to belong to a professional association,
but professional capacity shall be assessed by the Ministry of Government
and Justice, which issues a certificate to individuals with a master?s
degree in social communications from one of the country?s universities,
or an equivalent degree obtained from a foreign university and revalidated
by the University of Panama (Law 67 of 1978.) The above-cited law provides that such a certificate of proficiency
shall be granted to those with an academic degree from one of the
country?s universities or from a foreign university and revalidated
by the University of Panama; to those able to show continuous practice
of journalism for a period of no less than five years prior to the
date when this law took effect; and to those who at said date had
three or more years of journalistic practice and continued to exercise
it until completing five years (Art.2). To practice journalism in radio or television, a certificate
of proficiency as a journalist is required (Art. 7). As per Art. 12, foreign journalists who enter the country as
correspondents of international news agencies or other foreign media
shall be accredited as such by the Technical Board on Journalism
for a period covering their assignment. Art. 12 provides: ?Private companies wholly or partially involved
in journalism shall hire journalists for posts characterized as
being exclusively for journalists according Art. 6 of this law.? As has already been stated, although Art. 14 prohibits persons
not accredited as professional journalists from practicing this
profession and holding posts described in Art. 6 of the above-cited
law, this provision is not implemented. According to the same law, fines should be applied to those
who practice journalism without the proper accreditation, but this
is not implemented either. The radio and television law of 1999 continues the requirement
of licensing for radio and television announcers. This new law restricts
freedom of the press by imposing a formal condition on journalists
who wish to practice journalism verbally.
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