|
| |
|
| |
(a) | the appeal relates in whole or in part to a requirement of the |
| |
Adjudicator under section 12, and |
| |
(b) | the appeal is made by the relevant publication, |
| |
| the relevant date shall be that on which the relevant publication was informed |
| 5 |
of the requirement to which the appeal relates. |
| |
| |
(a) | the appeal relates in whole or in part to a requirement of the |
| |
Adjudicator under section 12, and |
| |
(b) | the appeal is made by the person making a complaint to the |
| 10 |
Adjudicator under section 10, |
| |
| the relevant date shall be that on which the correction arising from the |
| |
requirement to which the appeal relates was published. |
| |
14 | Proceedings of the Board on appeal |
| |
(1) | The Board may decide not to consider an appeal under section 13 if it thinks— |
| 15 |
(a) | that the conditions in that section have not been met, or |
| |
(b) | that the appeal is improper or vexatious. |
| |
(2) | Where the Board decides to consider an appeal, it shall take the steps specified |
| |
| |
(3) | The first step is to inform the other party that an appeal has been made. |
| 20 |
(4) | In the case of an appeal by a person making a complaint to the Adjudicator |
| |
under section 10, “the other party” means the relevant publication to which the |
| |
decision of the Adjudicator relates. |
| |
(5) | In the case of an appeal by the relevant publication to which a decision of the |
| |
Adjudicator relates, “the other party” means the person making a complaint to |
| 25 |
the Adjudicator under section 10. |
| |
(6) | The second step is to request such information as the Board may require within |
| |
such period as the Board may specify from any of the following— |
| |
(a) | the parties to the appeal, and |
| |
(b) | such other persons as appear to the Board to hold information that will |
| 30 |
assist it in proceeding under this section. |
| |
(7) | The third step is to decide whether the appeal should be upheld. |
| |
(8) | The fourth step is to inform the parties to the appeal of its decision under |
| |
| |
(9) | The Board may take more than one of the steps specified in this section at the |
| 35 |
| |
(10) | In taking those steps and specifying a period for the provision of information |
| |
in accordance with subsection (6), the Board shall have regard to the |
| |
desirability of ensuring that, wherever practicable, it comes to a decision |
| |
within a period of two weeks beginning with day on which it receives the |
| 40 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
15 | Actions arising from decision by the Board |
| |
(1) | Where, in a decision made in accordance with the provisions of section 14, the |
| |
Board has determined that a complainant has a right of reply, it shall require |
| |
the relevant publication to proceed in accordance with the provisions of section |
| |
9 in relation to the correction of the factual inaccuracy. |
| 5 |
(2) | Where, in a decision made in accordance with the provisions of section 14, the |
| |
Board has decided that the requirements of section 9 have not been met in |
| |
relation to the correction to which the appeal to it relates, it shall require the |
| |
relevant publication to proceed in accordance with the provisions of section 9 |
| |
in relation to the correction of the factual inaccuracy. |
| 10 |
(3) | A requirement under subsection (1) or (2)— |
| |
(a) | shall be expressed in writing, and |
| |
(b) | shall be specific about the matters referred to in section 9 that the Board |
| |
| |
(4) | Any correction published in accordance with the provisions of section 9 that |
| 15 |
arises from a decision of the Board under section 14 shall— |
| |
(a) | state that it arises from such a decision, and |
| |
(b) | include such information as the Board may require about its decision. |
| |
(5) | Where a correction is to be published in accordance with the provisions of |
| |
section 9 that arises from a decision of the Board under section 14, the Board |
| 20 |
may, if it thinks fit, inform any other relevant publication prior to the |
| |
publication of the correction that the correction is to be published and of any |
| |
matters about that the circumstances giving rise to its decision that the Board |
| |
| |
Enforcement in individual cases |
| 25 |
16 | Enforcement of requirements arising from individual cases |
| |
(1) | This section applies where— |
| |
(a) | a relevant publication has been required by— |
| |
(i) | the Adjudicator in exercise of his powers under section 12, or |
| |
(ii) | the Board in exercise of its powers under section 15, |
| 30 |
| to do any of the things to which the provisions of those sections or |
| |
| |
(b) | the relevant publication has not fulfilled that requirement. |
| |
(2) | Where this section applies, the Board may enforce a requirement by action— |
| |
(a) | (in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland) in the High Court, or |
| 35 |
(b) | (in Scotland), in the Court of Session. |
| |
(3) | In enforcing a requirement under subsection (2), the Court may require the |
| |
relevant publication to pay any or all of the costs incurred by the Board in |
| |
proceeding under this section. |
| |
(4) | No action to enforce a requirement under this section may give rise to a |
| 40 |
sentence of imprisonment against any person. |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
Database and periodic reviews |
| |
17 | Database of corrections, etc. |
| |
(1) | It shall be the duty of the Board to establish and maintain a publicly accessible |
| |
database of relevant information about editorial material in respect of which— |
| |
(a) | a right of reply has been established in accordance with the provisions |
| 5 |
of section 8 and a correction has been published in accordance with the |
| |
| |
(b) | a right of reply has been determined by the Adjudicator in accordance |
| |
with the provisions of section 11 and either— |
| |
(i) | a correction has been published in accordance with a |
| 10 |
requirement under section 12, or |
| |
(ii) | proceedings have been instituted under section 16; or |
| |
(c) | a right of reply has been determined by the Board in accordance with |
| |
the provisions of section 14 and either— |
| |
(i) | a correction has been published in accordance a requirement |
| 15 |
| |
(ii) | proceedings have been instituted under section 16. |
| |
(2) | Where a correction has been published in accordance with a requirement |
| |
under section 12 or an order of the Court under section 16 arising from such a |
| |
requirement, the Adjudicator shall inform the Board of the publication of the |
| 20 |
correction as soon as is practicable so as to enable the relevant information to |
| |
be added to the database. |
| |
(3) | Where a correction has been published in accordance with a requirement |
| |
under section 15 or an order of the Court under section 16 arising from such a |
| |
requirement, the Board shall arrange for the relevant information to be added |
| 25 |
| |
(4) | Relevant information contained on the database may only be removed with the |
| |
agreement of the person who made the initial complaint or (if he has died or |
| |
lacks the capacity to decide) his next of kin. |
| |
(5) | In this section, “relevant information” means such information as the Board |
| 30 |
considers appropriate relating to— |
| |
(a) | the relevant publication in which the factual inaccuracy giving rise to |
| |
the initial complaint was made, |
| |
(b) | the location within a relevant publication of a correction, and |
| |
(c) | the reasons why a right of reply was established or determined. |
| 35 |
18 | Periodic reviews and research |
| |
(1) | The Board shall prepare and publish periodic reviews of the matters specified |
| |
in subsections (3) to (5) and (7). |
| |
(2) | Periodic reviews shall be published with such frequency as the Board may |
| |
determine, but at least one review shall be published in the course of each |
| 40 |
| |
(3) | The matters specified in this subsection are the Board’s observations on— |
| |
(a) | the overall number of initial complaints; and |
| |
(b) | the number of initial complaints in relation to particular— |
| |
(i) | relevant publications, |
| 45 |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| |
(4) | The matter specified in this subsection is any information held on the database |
| |
which, in the opinion of the Board, ought to be brought to the attention of the |
| |
| 5 |
(5) | The matters specified in this subsection are the Board’s observations on— |
| |
(a) | the handling of complaints by relevant publications, |
| |
(b) | the activities of the Adjudicator under sections 10 to 12, |
| |
(c) | the activities of the Board under sections 13 to 15, and |
| |
(d) | enforcement under section 16. |
| 10 |
(6) | Observations under subsection (5) may be in general terms or may relate to a |
| |
particular relevant publication. |
| |
(7) | The matters specified in this subsection are— |
| |
(a) | trends in news coverage, |
| |
(b) | trends in journalism, and |
| 15 |
(c) | trends in the readership of relevant publications. |
| |
(8) | For the purposes of preparing that part of a periodic review that relates to |
| |
matters specified in subsection (7), the Board may arrange for or support |
| |
(whether financially or otherwise) the carrying out of research by others. |
| |
Compliance proceedings and enforcement |
| 20 |
19 | Initial compliance proceedings |
| |
(1) | The Board may initiate compliance proceedings under this section (“initial |
| |
compliance proceedings”) where the Board considers that any one or more of |
| |
the following conditions are met— |
| |
(a) | that the number of initial complaints that has been made in respect of a |
| 25 |
particular relevant publication in respect of which a right of reply has |
| |
subsequently been established in accordance with the provisions of this |
| |
| |
(b) | that a relevant publication has failed to put in place systems to verify |
| |
the factual accuracy of editorial material and in particular to check the |
| 30 |
database and periodic reviews, |
| |
(c) | that a relevant publication has persistently and negligently published |
| |
editorial material containing factual inaccuracies in respect of which a |
| |
right of reply has previously been established. |
| |
(2) | Where the Board decides to initiate compliance proceedings under this section, |
| 35 |
the Board shall serve a notice of that decision on the relevant publication. |
| |
(3) | At the conclusion of compliance proceedings under this section, the Board |
| |
| |
(a) | publish a report containing recommendations for action by the relevant |
| |
publication on any of the matters to which the compliance proceedings |
| 40 |
relates within a specified period, and |
| |
(b) | provide such other information as it considers appropriate to the |
| |
| |
|
| |
|