Press Regulation

An independent self regulatory body should be governed by an independent Board. In order to ensure the independence of the body, the Chair and members of the Board must be …

The Board should require all those who subscribe to have an adequate and speedy complaint handling mechanism; it should encourage those who wish to complain to do so through that …

The Board should have the power to hear and decide on complaints about breach of the standards code by those who subscribe. The Board should have the power (but not …

Decisions on complaints should be the ultimate responsibility of the Board, advised by complaints handling officials to whom appropriate delegations may be made.

Serving editors should not be members of any Committee advising the Board on complaints and any such Committee should have a composition broadly reflecting that of the main Board, with …

It should continue to be the case that complainants are able to bring complaints free of charge.

In relation to complaints, the Board should have the power to direct appropriate remedial action for breach of standards and the publication of corrections and apologies. Although remedies are essentially …

The power to direct the nature, extent and placement of apologies should lie with the Board.

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 …

The Board, being an independent self-regulatory body, should have authority to examine issues on its own initiative and have sufficient powers to carry out investigations both into suspected serious or …

The Board should have the power to impose appropriate and proportionate sanctions, (including financial sanctions up to 1% of turnover with a maximum of £1m), on any subscriber found to …

The appointment of the Chair of the Board should be made by an appointment panel. The selection of that panel must itself be conducted in an appropriately independent way and …

The Board should have both the power and a duty to ensure that all breaches of the standards code that it considers are recorded as such and that proper data …

The Board should publish an Annual Report identifying: (a) the body's subscribers, identifying any significant changes in subscriber numbers; (b) the number of complaints it has handled and the outcomes …

The Board should provide an arbitral process in relation to civil legal claims against subscribers, drawing on independent legal experts of high reputation and ability on a cost-only basis to …

A new system of regulation should not be considered sufficiently effective if it does not cover all significant news publishers.

The membership of a regulatory body should be open to all publishers on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, including making membership potentially available on different terms for different types of …

In any reconsideration of the powers of the Information Commissioner (or replacement body), power should be given to that body to determine that membership of a satisfactory regulatory body, which …

It should be open any subscriber to a recognised regulatory body to rely on the fact of such membership and on the opportunity it provides for the claimant to use …

In order to meet the public concern that the organisation by the press of its regulation is by a body which is independent of the press, independent of Parliament and …

The responsibility for recognition and certification of a regulator shall rest with a recognition body. In its capacity as the recognition body, it will not be involved in regulation of …

The requirements for recognition should be those set out the recommendations set out above numbered 1 to 24 inclusive and more fully described in Part K, Chapter 7, Section 4 …

The appointment panel: (a) should be appointed in an independent, fair and open way; (b) should contain a substantial majority of members who are demonstrably independent of the press; (c) …

The operation of any certified body should be reviewed by the recognition body after two years and thereafter at three yearly intervals.

The role of recognition body, that is to say, to recognise and certify that any particular body satisfies (and, on review, continues to satisfy) the requirements set out in law …

It should be possible for the recognition body to recognise more than one regulatory body, should more than one seek recognition and meet the criteria, although this is not an …

In passing legislation to identify the legitimate requirements to be met by an independent regulator organised by the press, and to provide for a process of recognition and review of …

The appointment of the Board should also be an independent process, and the composition of the Board should include people with relevant expertise. The requirement for independence means that there …

The members of the Board should be appointed by the same appointment panel that appoints the Chair, together with the Chair (once appointed), and should: (a) be appointed by a …

Specific provision should be made to the effect that, in considering the exercise of any of its powers in relation to the media or other publishers, the Information Commissioner's Office …

Funding for the system should be settled in agreement between the industry and the Board, taking into account the cost of fulfilling the obligations of the regulator and the commercial …

The standards code must ultimately be the responsibility of, and adopted by, the Board, advised by a Code Committee which may comprise both independent members of the Board and serving …

The code must take into account the importance of freedom of speech, the interests of the public (including the public interest in detecting or exposing crime or serous impropriety, protecting …

The Board should require, of those who subscribe, appropriate internal governance processes, transparency on what governance processes they have in place, and notice of any failures in compliance, together with …