Transcript of Afternoon Hearing 3 April 2012 - The Leveson Inquiry

Day 60 - PM Leveson Inquiry 3 April 2012
1 Mr Jay, is there anything you want to say about any
2 of the applications that I've received I will reserve
3 judgment. I won't give it this afternoon.
4 MR JAY: Sir, no.
5 LORD JUSTICE LEVESON: But I will reserve it only for a very
6 short period of time. Right, thank you very much. I'll
7 provide a decision in writing in the course, I hope, of
8 the next few days. I would certainly want to try and
9 get it out before Easter.
10 Yes, Mr Ward
11 MR WARD: Could I raise just one point. You made a point
12 that my witness statement had not perhaps gone into
13 great detail about Module 3. Of course I can append
14 that and add additional --
15 LORD JUSTICE LEVESON: I understand.
16 MR WARD: I want to apologise for the fact that it wasn't
17 entirely concentrated, but there is a great deal of
18 additional material.
19 LORD JUSTICE LEVESON: All right, thank you.
20 MS DECOULOUS: What's going to happen in Module 4
21 LORD JUSTICE LEVESON: Module 4 is to do with the future.
22 As we go through the afternoon, we will discuss the
23 approach to Module 3 and the approach to Module 4, and
24 the timetable, so that it will all become clear.
25 Right. I think that takes me to an approach to
Page 37
1 Sometimes that's been possible to deal with, but in
2 the rather more sophisticated range of issues that
3 Module 3 generates, it is going to be absolutely vital
4 that sufficient advance notice of lines of questioning,
5 which may themselves involve reference to documents, is
6 provided to Mr Jay so that he can assimilate them and
7 consider their value. I would very much like to say
8 that we'd like notice of some seven days. However,
9 I recognise that that requires the statements to be
10 online very much in advance of that seven-day period,
11 but I think that what we will do is, in relation to each
12 statement, we will mark it with a date upon which we
13 would like any lines of questioning to be provided.
14 I'm not saying there's a cut-off because there never
15 can be, but I am seeking to ensure that the preparation
16 for these witnesses is as comprehensive and as timely as
17 possible.
18 Mr Jay, do you want to say anything about that
19 MR JAY: No.
20 LORD JUSTICE LEVESON: Right. The approach to Module 4.
21 Essentially, I apprehend there will be little evidence
22 in Module 4. There may be a question -- "What is
23 ethical journalism" -- asked and addressed, and the
24 only other evidence is likely to be the suggested
25 regulatory models. That that's from the press and from
Page 39
1 Module 3, which I intend should follow the same pattern
2 that we have adopted hitherto. We will not start the
3 political end of this module before the elections in
4 early May, so we will then proceed to hear this evidence
5 up to the end of June, and I'll come to the timetable in
6 a moment.
7 The next aspect of Module 3, which will undeniably
8 address the political perspectives of the terms of
9 reference, is to consider the benefit we might receive
10 from commentators. I apprehend that we're likely,
11 because of time shortages, in the main, to seek
12 statements and then to read them into the Inquiry, but
13 I will want any submissions on that as appropriate as to
14 whether that's acceptable.
15 The third point that I want to make about Module 3
16 is lines of questioning. It may be that the system has
17 put statements up for core participants to see rather
18 later than we would have wished, and sometimes with very
19 little notice at all. However much advance notice has
20 been given, however -- and in some cases it has been
21 considerable -- lines of questioning tend to have been
22 provided to counsel on the night before or the morning
23 of -- and that's sometimes 2, 3 and 4 o'clock in the
24 morning -- the day on which the witness coming to give
25 evidence.
Page 38
1 others. The Inquiry has received a number of
2 submissions as to possible regulatory models and those
3 are what we shall address during the course of Module 4,
4 which will inevitably be very much shorter than any of
5 the other modules.
6 So that brings me to the timetable for the Inquiry.
7 During the week commencing 23 April, I apprehend that we
8 will be calling some proprietors or media owners and
9 other evidence crossing modules. So we won't be sitting
10 the week of the 16th; we'll sit next on the week of the
11 23rd.
12 We'll then, I'm afraid, have another week off,
13 because I won't start Module 3 until after the
14 elections. In the week commencing 8 May, we'll have
15 further proprietors, we'll have catch-up evidence and
16 we'll start Module 3. By "catch-up evidence", I mean
17 evidence that I have not yet received but have been
18 waiting to resolve. I have already mentioned that it is
19 during that week that I will deal with the outstanding
20 issues in relation to Milly Dowler's mobile phone. It's
21 that week that I will consider again operations Glade
22 and Reproof, and there will be some other witnesses who
23 cross or potentially cross different areas, or more
24 conveniently can be taken at that stage, whose names
25 will be identified in the usual way.
Page 40
10 (Pages 37 to 40)
Merrill Corporation www.merrillcorp/mls.com 8th Floor 165 Fleet Street
(+44) 207 404 1400 London EC4A 2DY