Section 96: Royal Charters: requirements for Parliamentary approval
609.On 29th November 2012 the Report of An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press was presented to Parliament (HC 780) (“the Leveson Report”). In the report, the Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Leveson makes a range of recommendations to reform the regulatory framework for the press, creating a new system for press regulation, with the principle of industry self-regulation at its heart. One of the recommendations of the Leveson Report was that a body should be given responsibility for recognising whether any independent self-regulator established by the press met certain criteria (principally set out in recommendations 1 to 24 of the Leveson Report). On 18th March 2013, the Government published and laid before Parliament its proposals for a royal charter for the establishment of such a body, with the agreement of the Official Opposition.
610.Section 96 will apply to a body established by a Royal Charter after 1st March 2013 where the Charter contains a requirement that Parliament must approve amendments to the Charter or the dissolution of the body the Charter establishes. It will provide that such a requirement contained in the Charter on the date it is granted must be satisfied before steps can be taken to recommend, via the Privy Council, dissolution or amendment to Her Majesty in Council.