Press reform report to be published

Mar 15 2013

A report on press regulation reforms in Scotland is to be published on Friday, says the Scottish Government.

A five-person panel of legal experts and journalists was appointed in December to consider the recommendations of the Leveson report into press standards.

It was chaired by Lord McCluskey, senator of the College of Justice and a former solicitor-general, with a view for the panel to assess reforms to the Scottish press under Scots Law and make recommendations to the Scottish Government.

The First Minister held a cross-party meeting with the Scottish Newspaper Society this afternoon as part of planned engagements with stakeholders after the publication of the Leveson Report.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The meeting gave all of the main party leaders in Scotland the opportunity to listen to the views of the press in Scotland as the Scottish Parliament prepares to respond to the recommendations made by Leveson.

"The report by the expert group, led by Lord McCluskey on how the Leveson recommendations could be applied in the Scottish context is expected to be published on Friday and we will continue discussions with other parties on the next steps."

The publication of the Scottish document comes the day after David Cameron decided to dodge cross-party consensus on press regulation at Westminster where he will force a vote on the issue in the House of Commons on Monday.

The Prime Minister said he will publish a Royal Charter to underpin a new self-regulatory system for the press without the need for parliamentary legislation.

Labour in Westminster is expected to publish its amendment tomorrow for what was being described as a "Leveson-compliant" royal charter.