Britain’s Lord Justice Leveson today gave his strongest indication of the measures he believes are needed to tackle problems in the press in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.
He told the inquiry he wants a body that is independent of the establishment and of the press.
Measures to improve systems of redress for the public and a mechanism for intervening before damaging stories are published are also being considered.
He said: “Whatever comes out of this must be independent of government, independent of the state, independent of parliament but independent of the press.
“It has to have experts in it, it must command the respect of the press but also the general public.
“I would like to think about a system that provides redress, particularly to those who can’t afford to litigate.
“It’s got to be speedy, it’s got to be effective, it’s got to achieve a result.”
Lord Justice Leveson said he had been contacted by transgender, disabled and immigrant groups who complained that under current rules they were not able to make a collective complaint about any article they felt was unfair or untrue.
He also signalled he will look for some way of solving the problem of prior notification to stop the problem of newspapers failing to contact the subject of a story for fear of being slapped with an injunction.
“There has to be some way of drawing a line,” he said.
Lord Justice Leveson said he wants a mechanism of swift resolution for privacy and libel cases.
Dismissing claims he plans to gag the press, he added: “I have absolutely no interest in imperilling the freedom of expression of the press.”
PA