57 169. Meanwhile, expert witness Romero Graterol referred to the recommendations established by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) 256 regarding the minimum content of regulations related to the concession or renewal of licenses, stating that: The ITU recommendation has established a simple procedure so that there are only a few formal requirements, such as indicating the type of procedure to be used, the time frames, information needed for the concession and the basic documentation, also establishing the amounts and types of guarantee to cover both the service offered and obligations resulting from the granting of the license.257 170. In this regard, and in relation to the pluralism of the media, the Court recalls that the citizens of a country have the right to access information and ideas representing a diversity of positions, which must be guaranteed at different levels, 258 such as the types of media, the sources and the content. The Court considers that, since the radioelectric spectrum is a limited resource with a specific number of frequencies, this restricts the number of media that have access to it so that it is necessary to ensure that this media represents a diversity of news and opinion viewpoints or positions. The Court emphasizes that the pluralism of ideas in the media cannot be measured based on the number of media; rather the ideas and information broadcast must truly be diverse and approached from different perspectives, without just one viewpoint or position existing. The foregoing should be taken into account in the procedures for the granting and renewal of broadcasting concessions or licenses. The Court considers that any limits or restrictions arising from broadcasting laws and regulations should take into account the guarantee of the pluralism of the media, given its importance for the functioning of a democratic society.259 171. Based on the above, the Court underlines the need for States to regulate, clearly and precisely, the procedures for the granting and renewal of broadcasting concessions and licenses, using objective criteria that avoid arbitrariness. Specifically, each State must establish the general safeguards or guarantees of due process260 that it determines are required in these The International Telecommunications Union is a specialized body of the United Nations for information technologies and information. The ITU has 193 member countries, including Venezuela, which has been a member since 1920. In this regard see: http://www.itu.int/. 256 Opinion of expert witness Romero Graterol during the public hearing in this case. Similarly, see: “Legal and Institutional Framework, Approaches for Policymakers, Regulators, and Practitioners,” http://www.ictregulationtoolkit.org/6. 257 Similarly, in the Joint Declaration on Diversity in Broadcasting indicated, inter alia, that: (i) “[s]ufficient ‘space’ should be allocated to broadcasting uses on different communications platforms to ensure that, as a whole, the public is able to receive a range of diverse broadcasting services.” Regarding the plurality of sources, the Declaration reiterated that “special measures, including anti-monopoly rules, should be put in place to prevent undue concentration of media or cross-media ownership, both horizontal and vertical.” Lastly, regarding the diversity of content, it indicated that “[p]olicy tools could be used, where this is consistent with international guarantees of freedom of expression, to promote content diversity among and within media outlets.” Declaration adopted by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the OSCE Represetative on Freedom of the Media, the OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of expression and the ACHPR (African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information. 258 In this regard, the European Court in the case of United Christian Broadcasters Ltd v. The United Kingdom – in which a broadcasting license was refused because the company only had religious programming – established that the aim of protecting the rights of others was associated with the protection of diversity and pluralism, because the State sought to “ensure that the limited spectrum available for national radio broadcasting [was] distributed in such a way as to satisfy as may radio listeners as possible [and] ensure that any one [religious] viewpoint is not allowed to dominate to the disadvantage of others.” On that occasion, the European Court stressed that the said argument was applicable to both religious organization and organizations of a political nature. ECHR, Case of United Christian Broadcasters Ltd v. The United Kingdom, Decision on admissibility (No. 44802/98), Judgment of November 7, 2000. 259 Regarding development in comparative law concerning the possible basic guarantees in procedures to grant or to renew a telecommunications concession, the Court asked the parties and the Inter-American Commission to provide examples of domestic laws that would enable it to make an analysis in this regard. However, the information provided by the parties and the Commission did not allow the Court to identify general characteristics or criteria throughout the region, because very few countries were referred to expressly. Reference was made to: Australia, Canada, Colombia, 260