L17 Response Accepted in Part

No Prior Restraint Power

Recommendation

The Board should not have the power to prevent publication of any material, by anyone, at any time although (in its discretion) it should be able to offer a service of advice to editors of subscribing publications relating to code compliance which editors, in their discretion, can deploy in civil proceedings arising out of publication.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
The Prime Minister accepted the principles for independent self-regulation in November 2012 (David Cameron statement, 29 November 2012). As of February 2025, neither the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) nor IMPRESS possesses the power to prevent the publication of material, aligning with the recommendation. IPSO also provides a pre-publication advisory service to editors (Independent evidence, 2025-02-27).
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by gemini-2.5-flash on 24 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Accepted in Part
Accepted in Part UK Government
29 Nov 2012

The Prime Minister stated on 29 November 2012 that he accepted "the principles that Lord Justice Leveson has laid out" for independent self-regulation, including "an independent board, a standards code, an arbitration service and the power to demand up-front, prominent apologies and impose million-pound fines." However, he rejected statutory underpinning, expressing "serious concerns and misgivings" about crossing "the Rubicon of writing elements of press regulation into the law of the land." The Royal Charter on Self-Regulation of the Press was granted on 30 October 2013, establishing the Press Recognition Panel as the recognition body. IPSO was established in September 2014 but has not sought Royal Charter recognition. IMPRESS was recognised by the PRP in October 2016. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/david-cameron-statement-in-response-to-the-leveson-inquiry-report

Read Full Response
Note: PM David Cameron responded to all 92 recommendations with a single statement accepting them "in principle" or "in part". No per-recommendation response was published.
Published Evidence

Published assessments of progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.

Confirmed Completed
27 Feb 2025
IPSO / IMPRESS Other

Neither IPSO nor IMPRESS has the power of prior restraint. This aligns with Leveson's recommendation. IPSO offers a pre-publication advisory service.

View detailed findings

No prior restraint power exists at either regulator, as recommended. Advisory service available.

IPSO and IMPRESS structures View Source
Source
Report An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press 29 Nov 2012
Responsible Bodies
Press Primary
Recommendation age 13.3 yrs
Last formal update 4864 days ago