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Eversheds comment: A long road ahead for press reform

  • United Kingdom

    26-11-2012

    As the media prepares to digest Lord Justice Leveson's findings later this week, Andrew Terry, media law expert at global law firm Eversheds, comments:

    “Given the wide scope of the inquiry, the number of witnesses and the sheer amount of material available to Lord Justice Leveson, it seems inevitable that his report will be huge and detailed. That means that there will be headline points which can be seized upon by those on all sides but it is important that sufficient time is taken to sensibly assess Lord Justice Leveson’s conclusions and recommendations. There will not be another opportunity for this kind of review in a very long time, and it should not be squandered.

    "A key question that is polarising opinion is whether there should be so-called statutory control of the press or not. But the way this has been framed and examined has completely muddied the issues at the heart of press accountability. Statutory control is being taken by many to mean (or possibly give rise to) government control and there are obvious reasons why that is deeply unattractive. The reality is that many individuals and bodies (the judiciary and OFCOM, for example) are appointed by statute and are seen by most to be independent.

    "Independence cannot be assumed to exist, but neither can it be assumed to be absent. It all depends on what the statute says, and how the regulator would work. In this context Lord Justice Leveson needs to decide how to address the “Desmond Problem”; i.e. if the regulator (or other body that is set up) is to be effective, it must be able to guarantee that all major news publishers are members. If not, then there is always the risk that newspapers simply remove themselves from control and render that body impotent. For that reason, some form of independent regulator established by statute seems the most likely proposal. But this will be a very long road - there will be many discussions to be had, followed at some point by approval from the government, before any proposals become reality.”

    Visit our media law pages for information on the legal services we provide.

     

    Andrew Terry, Partner

    This information is for guidance purposes only and should not be regarded as a substitute for taking legal advice. Please refer to the full terms and conditions on our website.

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