The newspaper and magazine industry has announced that it will be taking its case to the court of appeal following a high court ruling on the press regulation royal charters.
A statement issued on behalf of the four newspaper and magazine trade associations said: “We are deeply disappointed with this decision, which denies the newspaper and magazine industry the right properly to make their case that the privy council’s decision to reject their charter was unfair and unlawful.
“This is a vital constitutional issue and we will be taking our case for judicial review – of the privy council’s decisions on both the industry charter and the cross-party charter – to the court of appeal.”
A last minute attempt to get an injunction to stop the finalisation of what has been dubbed the “politicians’ charter” failed in the high court after a last minute hearing on Wednesday. Soon after the Queen signed the competing royal charter drawn-up by politicians and lobby group Hacked Off, effectively killing hopes for the newspaper and magazine industry.
Commenting on the events, media journalist Raymond Snoddy said there is now very little hope going through the court of appeal will offer the newspaper and magazine industry any success.
Writing on Newsline, Snoddy said: “The Queen has signed-up, apparently without any qualms, and a judicial review [is] summarily refused. The newspaper organisations will now go to the Court of Appeal but with very little chance of success.
“It was neither wise nor fair for the politicians, together with Hacked Off representatives, to exclude press representation from the entire process, but they were almost certainly under no legal obligation to do so.
“It means, therefore, we now have the politicians’ royal charter on the table beyond the reach of legal challenge in magnificent isolation.
“The press royal charter is dead – because you can’t have two competing royal charters regulating the same industry.”
Meanwhile, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has said newspapers will not be required to enter into the system of press regulation agreed by the privy council.
“It was always up to the press; it is entirely voluntary,” Clegg said on his LBC radio programme, Call Clegg. “If the press don’t want to enter into this new system they don’t have to. Some significant parts of it have said they have got no intention of doing so.”
The deputy prime minister made no mention of any repercussions should members of the press refuse to join a recognised regulator.
