Rulings
This page contains links to all Rulings made by the Inquiry Chairman, Lord Justice Leveson, and associated documents.
Handling of Evidence
On 28 November 2011 Lord Justice Leveson made an order preventing the publication of any witness statements provided to the Inquiry until they are formally put into evidence. Following an application from Full Fact, Lord Justice Leveson issued a ruling on 7 December 2011 amending that order. The Order was further amended on 26 April 2012. The ruling and ammended orders are below:
- Section 19 Order: Amended 26 April 2012 (pdf, 29.2KB)
- Ruling on Publication of Statements – 7 December 2011 (PDF, 69.1KB)
- Section 19 Order: Amended 7 December 2011 (PDF, 52.9KB)
On 2 December Lord Justice Leveson made an order in relation to the evidence of Mr Alexander Owens:
- Order of 2 December 2011 (PDF, 62.3KB)
On 26 March 2012, Lord Justice Leveson gave a ruling in relation to the evidence of Mr Peter Tickner and Mr Ian Hurst:
- Ruling of 26 March 2012 (pdf, 13.9KB)
On 9 May 2012, Lord Justice Leveson gave a ruling on the practical application of core participant status:
On 14 May 2012 Lord Justice Leveson gave a ruling in relation to the publication of information by the Independent on Sunday:
- Ruling on Publication of Statements by IoS – 14 May 2012 (pdf, 73.7KB)
On 11 June 2012 Lord Justice Leveson gave a ruling in relation to Operation Motorman Evidence:
On 10 July 2012 Lord Justice Leveson gave a ruling in relation to Operation Motorman and Associated Newspapers Limited:
- Operation Motorman and ANL 10 July 2012 (pdf, 59.5KB
- ANL response to Chairmans ruling on 10 July 2012 (pdf, 39.8KB)
On 23 July 2012 Lord Justice Leveson gave a ruling in relation to the future direction of the Inquiry:
- Ruling on Future Direction – 23 July 2012 (pdf, 69KB)
Restriction Orders
On 23 November, 2011, Lord Justice Leveson gave a restriction order in relation to the evidence to be given by the witness HJK. The order is available below:
- S19 Restriction Order HJK (PDF, 51.6KB)
- S19 Restriction Order HJK (Word, 161KB)
On 29 November 2012, Lord Justice Leveson made a general restriction order in relation to redactions made to evidence and documents, and evidence and documents withheld by the Inquiry:
- S19 Order & Schedule (pdf, 76KB)
Anonymous Witnesses
Lord Justice Leveson first considered the issue of anonymous evidence on 31 October, 2011. A copy of his ruling dated 9 November 2011 is below. In this ruling, Lord Justice Leveson made it clear that the Inquiry would accept evidence that was provided anonymously. He subsequently received a number of submissions on this issue and his final ruling, dated 28 November 2011, is set out below, together with the protocol by which the Inquiry will deal with the applications for anonymity.
- Anonymous Evidence 28 November 2011 (PDF, 70KB)
- Protocol regarding Applications for Anonymity (PDF, 13.7KB)
- Anonymous Witnesses Ruling (Word, 170KB)
- Anonymous Witnesses Ruling (PDF, 64.5KB)
On 20 January 2012, the Divisional Court ruled on the application by Associated Newspapers against Lord Justice Leveson’s decision, in principle, to accept anonymous evidence during the Inquiry. A copy of that judgment can be found here:
http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/Resources/JCO/Documents/Judgments/assoc-news-v-chair-leveson-inquiry.pdf
Lord Justice Leveson has now issued a further ruling on this issue:
- Anonymous witnesses ruling 7 February 2012 (pdf, 88KB)
Approach to Evidence
Lord Justice Leveson heard submissions from the Metropolitan Police (MPS) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on 26 October 2011 and 31 October 2011 about the potential overlap of the Inquiry with on-going criminal proceedings. The MPS and CPS submissions and the subsequent ruling of 07 November 2011 are available here:
- Submissions from the Crown Prosecution Service and the Met Police (PDF, 112KB)
- Approach to evidence – 7 November 2011 (Word, 207KB)
- Approach to evidence – 7 November 2011 (PDF, 106KB)
Core Participants
Lord Justice Leveson heard a number of submissions and considered written applications in relation to individuals and organisations seeking core participant status for the purposes of the Inquiry. His rulings on these issues can be found below. For an up-to-date list of core participants please see the Core Participants page of our website.
- Amended Ruling in relation to Core Particpants for Module 4 (pdf, 74.8KB)
- Further Ruling on Core Participants (Government) – 4 May 2012 (pdf, 79KB) It is not the Inquiry’s usual practice to publish applications for Core Participant status, however, due to the public interest in this application, the Applicant has agreed that it can be published and exceptionally, the Inquiry has agreed to publish the same: Application for CP Status (pdf, 17.2KB)
- Further Ruling on Core Participants (Module 3) – 5 April 2012 (pdf, 72.9KB)
- Further ruling on Core Participants (Module 2) - 17 February 2012 (PDF, 65KB)
- Transcript of ruling in relation to Core Participants (Module 2) – 25 January 2012 (See page 7 of PDF, 71KB)
- Further Ruling on Core Participants – 2 November 2011 (PDF, 34KB)
- Transcript of judgment relating to Elaine Decoulos – 4 October 2011 (Word, 34KB)
- Transcript of judgment relating to Elaine Decoulos – 4 October 2011 (PDF, 50.2KB)
- Ruling on Core Participants – 14 September 2011 (PDF, 196KB)
On 11 June 2012 Lord Justice Leveson gave a ruling in relation to applications for funding from Core Participants to the Inquiry:
- Costs Ruling – 11 June 2012 (pdf, 67.2KB)
The Role of the Assessors
On 17 October 2011, following hearings on 28 September 2011 and 4 October 2011, Lord Justice Leveson ruled on the role of the assessors to the Inquiry. The attached Assessor Protocol outlines the role of the assessors and how they will support the Chairman:
- Ruling on the role of the assessors – 17 October 2011 (Word, 160KB)
- Ruling on the role of the assessors – 17 October 2011 (PDF, 102KB)
- Assessor Protocol 17 October 2011 (PDF, 137KB)
Rule 13 of the Inquiry Rules 2006
On 1 May 2012, Lord Justice Leveson issued the following ruling in relation to the Application of Rule 13 of the Inquiry Rules 2006. A supplementary ruling was issued on 4 May 2012 in relation to the Metropolitan Police Service:
