Translation of "Peine prévue pour la diffamation " (French → English) :

3. Considers in particular that the provisions of the Algerian penal code of May 2001 imposing prison sentences for defamation of the President, Parliament or "any other public or constituent body" are obstructing the work of journalists in Algeria;

F. concerned at the situation regarding press freedom following the reform of the Algerian Penal Code in May 2001 and in particular certain of its provisions, which impose heavy fines and prison sentences for libel,

The Council of Europe Conventions of 30 November 1964 and 21 March 1983 and the Convention between the Member States of the European Communities of 13 November 1991 give the State of enforcement a choice [141] between adapting the penalty to be recognised into the penalty provided for by its own legislation for comparable offences (Conventions of 1964, 1983 and 1991) and the possibility of substituting for the penalty ordered in the State of judgment a penalty provided for by its own legislation for the same offence (Conventions of 1964 and 1970) or converting the penalty ordered in the State of judgment into a penalty provided for by it ...[+++]s own legislation for the same offence (Conventions of 1983 and 1991).

It is simply not possible to embark on the approximation of penalties applicable on the basis of the level of participation without approximating the penalties for the principal offender, as the penalty incurred by the accomplice in Member States that differentiate sentences in such cases generally depends on the penalty for the principal offence.

Where the transfer of enforcement of a custodial penalty is accepted, the competent authorities in the administering State must either enforce the penalty imposed in the sentencing State - immediately or through an order - or through a judicial or administrative procedure convert the sentence into a decision of the administering State, thereby substituting the penalty imposed in the sentencing State by a penalty laid down by the law of the administering State for the same offence (Article 8).

But the first limit on the court's freedom at the sentencing stage flows from the basic principle that penalties must be provided for by law, so that where it holds that an offence has been committed it must pass a sentence provided for by the law for that offence.