In the speech delivered today by His Majesty the King, outlining the government’s policies and laws to be introduced it was announced that, ‘Legislation will be brought forward to support the creative industries and protect public interest journalism.’
This comes a day after a government source informed a national newspaper that the Prime Minister intended to scrap Section 40, calling it ‘a controversial law that could make newspapers pay legal costs for both sides in libel and privacy cases – regardless of who wins.’
Kathryn Cearns OBE, Chair of the Press Recognition Panel (PRP), said:
“A repeal of Section 40 will be devastating for the public in the UK, where harm by the press is still inflicted far too often on ordinary members of the public. If this goes ahead, the public will lose its only viable route – were it properly commenced – to challenging the UK press and news publishers without incurring huge costs. In addition, it will denigrate freedom of speech in the UK, not safeguard it.
“The aim of Section 40 is to protect the public from harmful press practices and encourage news publishers to sign up to an approved regulator so that we finally have meaningful and independent regulation of the press in the UK. However, it also protects freedom of speech by preventing wealthy individuals and organisations from trying to stifle investigative journalism by misusing the courts to bury journalists in legal costs.
“We urge the current government to rethink their decision in the public interest and to ensure a fair and free society.”
