Hacked Off has written to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport John Whittingdale MP to make the case for a critical access to justice provision to be brought into force immediately. As part of our case, we highlight that:

• Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act is an essential part of the Royal Charter on the self-regulation of the press and will bring substantial benefits to ordinary people.

• For the first time, ordinary people who have grounds to believe they have been libeled, or that their right to privacy has been unjustifiably breached by a news publisher, will be entitled to legal remedy at low cost. To date, such access has generally been confined to the rich, while for others the availability of Conditional Fee Agreements in such cases has provided only limited access to justice.

• It wholly inappropriate (and inconsistent with the scheme of the Royal Charter) for the Secretary of State to make any decision as to the independence or effectiveness of IPSO. This is a matter for the PRP.

• It is not acceptable to any party in the debate on press regulation, for a Government minister to hold an executive “Sword of Damocles” over the press by virtue of a power and discretion to commence section 40 which would sanction or reward some newspapers.

• None of the reasons which the Secretary of State advanced for delaying Section 40 stands up to scrutiny. He told us that his mind was not made up; we urge him now to proceed with the prompt commencement of Section 40, as Parliament intended and as his own Prime Minister promised.

The full text of Hacked Off’s submission to the Culture Secretary can be read here.