L68 Response Not Accepted Self-assessed

PACE Amendments Consideration

Recommendation

The Home Office should consider and, if necessary, consult upon: (a) whether paragraph 2(b) of Schedule 1 to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) should be repealed; (b) whether PACE should be amended to provide a definition of the phrase "for the purposes of journalism" in s13(2); and (c) whether s11(3) of PACE should be amended by providing that journalistic material is only held in confidence for the PACE provisions if it is held or has continuously been held since it was first acquired or created subject to an enforceable or lawful undertaking, restriction or obligation.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
According to the Home Office (27 February 2025), this recommendation was not implemented, and the Home Office did not make the recommended amendments to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), which included repealing paragraph 2(b) of Schedule 1, defining 'for the purposes of journalism' in s13(2), or amending s11(3) regarding journalistic material held in confidence. According to the Prime Minister's statement of 29 November 2012, the government did not formally respond to civil justice recommendations.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 19 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
Not Accepted
Not Accepted UK Government
29 Nov 2012

This recommendation was not implemented. The government did not formally respond to civil justice recommendations in the Prime Minister's statement of 29 November 2012. Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, which would have created a costs incentive mechanism, was enacted but never commenced. On 1 March 2018, the Secretary of State announced that Section 40 would not be commenced and would be repealed. Section 40 was repealed by Section 50 of the Media Act 2024 (Royal Assent 24 May 2024). Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/leveson-consultation-response

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 implementation progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Check the source type badge to see whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.

Not Implemented
27 Feb 2025
Home Office Other

The PACE amendments Leveson recommended were not made. No changes to paragraph 2(b) of Schedule 1, no definition of 'for the purposes of journalism' in s13(2), and no amendment to s11(3) regarding journalistic material held in confidence.

View detailed findings

None of the three PACE amendments Leveson recommended were enacted.

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 View Source
Source
Report An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press 29 Nov 2012
Responsible Bodies
UK Government Primary
Recommendation age 13.3 yrs
Last formal update 4863 days ago