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THE LEVESON INQUIRY

THE LEVESON INQUIRY. By: Angelina Georgiou, Alia De Bellotte , Bianca Reynolds-Douse, Mat Jakubowski , Laika Hussein. Phone Hacking. What is phone hacking ?

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THE LEVESON INQUIRY

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  1. THE LEVESON INQUIRY By: Angelina Georgiou, Alia De Bellotte, Bianca Reynolds-Douse, Mat Jakubowski, Laika Hussein

  2. Phone Hacking • What is phone hacking? • Phone hacking can be defined as ‘the action or practice of gaining unauthorized access to data stored in another person’s phone. Especially in order to access their voicemail.’ • Is it illegal? • It could be suggested that phone hacking is not illegal under privacy as there are no separate British privacy Acts, although there is Article 8 of the ECHR which concerns the right to respect your private and family life. However, phone hacking is illegal under the Interception and Communications Act 1985. • When did it all start? • With the advances of technology people have found different ways in order to collect private information of others. One of the ways is phone hacking into the voicemails of people. • An example is when Prosecutor David Perry QC stated that “The defendants... were fishing in the voicemail boxes to see whether there might be information of interest to them.......”

  3. Case Examples • Bob, Sally and Gemma Dowler-Their daughter Milly Dowler was murdered in 2002 and it came to light that she was a target of phone hacking. This was evidenced through the mobile for Milly proved that the voicemail's data was intercepted. The editor was Rebekah Brooks for News of the World (NoW) at the time and due to this finding NoW offered the family £2m and a further £1m to a charity chosen by them. • Gerry and Kate McCann - Their daughter Madeleine McCann was abducted on a family holiday to Portugal in 2007, Kate McCann's private diary was published in the NoW which made her feel 'totally violated’. • Sienna Miller - Settled for £100,000 when NoW admitted to the phone hacking of several of her mobile phones. NoW publically apologisedfor the 'harassment and distress' that she has suffered by their acts and now she has been currently been left in a state of ' anxiety and paranoia’. • Hugh Grant - Was found on a recording with Paul McMullan, this recording was by NoW and it disclosed information that he was a victim of phone hacking, unfortunately for him it was not found sufficient enough evidence for a case to be held against NoW. • Paul Gascoinge- received £68,000 from NoW from the findings that he amongst others where the framework of the inquiry as he was one of the 91 alleged victims. • Ulrika Jonsson- settled a number of figures between NoW due to the constant activity of phone hacking.

  4. The General Idea of The Leveson Inquiry • Led by Lord Justice Leveson and a panel of independent assessors, the Leveson Inquiry began in 2011, as an investigation into the role of the press and the police in the phone-hacking scandal. • The inquiry is aimed at the press as a whole, not just newspapers. It must be noted that there are no specific laws to either protect or regulate the press. • The Inquiry itself is split into two parts. • Part 1 examines the culture, practices and ethics of the press as well as making recommendations as to press-regulation reformation. • Part 2 deals with a variety of issues including the extent of unlawful or improper conduct within the News International. • The formal hearings of the Inquiry, which included gathering formal evidence and examinations of the witness’s, was concluded on 24th July 2012

  5. What’s Next? • What will change? • • There will be a new press standards body created by the industry, with a new code of conduct• That body will be backed by legislation, which would create a means to ensure the regulation was independent and effective• The arrangement will provide the public with confidence that their complaints would be dealt with seriously - and ensure the press were protected from interferenceA final draft was published on 11 October 2013, with changes including a small administration fee for arbitration, an opt-out of the arbitration scheme for local and regional newspapers if they can prove it causes "serious financial harm", and more involvement in decision making for the press and media industry. • What did the press have to say about all of this? • Newspapers and magazine publishers said they did not support the proposals announced in March, with the Newspaper Society saying it rejected "state-sponsored regulation”.Ultimately, a rival charter was submitted by the Newspaper Society, the Newspaper Publishers Association, the Professional Publishers Association and the Scottish Newspaper Society.Culture Secretary Maria Miller told MPs it had been rejected after consideration by a Privy Council sub-committee because, "whilst there are areas where it is acceptable, it is unable to comply with some important Leveson principles and government policy". • According to Privy Council member Lord Wallace of Saltaire - a Liberal Democrat peer - it was considered before the government's proposals as a result of "some very fast footwork by the press board”.After the final draft of the government's Royal Charter plan was published in October, the industry said the proposals could not be described as either "voluntary or independent" and some feared it could give politicians too much power. • What next?The royal charter agreed by the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour, will be put forward for approval at a specially-convened Privy Council meeting on 30 October.Mrs. Miller said that while the final draft included "some important changes" in an attempt to appease the press, she said there would be no movement on proposals for how regulation system could be amended in the future.

  6. Conclusion • The phone hacking cases in England are an example of there being a number of ways in which material can be obtained through unlawful means. The law provides protection but varies according to precise circumstances of each case and so each case much be looked at on its own merits. In relating to the Leveson Enquiry which is examining two main parts , the first part is to examine culture, practices and ethics of the media and, in particular the relationship of the press with the public, police and politicians. Although the second issue relates to phone hacking but it is not a real issue as this is already a criminal offence. The real problem is whether the government has a duty to protect individuals from the press if so, how much protection is needed. However, the media has not always played by the rules and has unjustifiably infringed the private lives of individuals. On the other hand, the press argued that the Leveson Enquiry was unfortunate and unnecessary. It had been argued that that the self- regulation is not to blame for the phone hacking scandal as it was likely a failure of law. Furthermore, more than 4000 people have been identified by the police as victims of phone hacking up until now. The alleged targets include politicians, celebrities, actors, sports personalities and members of the public involved in high profile cases. The legislation surrounding phone hacking is now outdated and does not provide a contemporary solution.

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