Leveson: some of the key questions awaiting answers

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/nov/28/leveson-inquiry-margaretthatcher

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1 What can the judge say about phone hacking? It was the reason why the inquiry was set up, but with so many people now facing criminal charges, he may feel unable to comment.

2 Why did the Met fail to investigate phone hacking from 2006, when the first arrests were made? Leveson is likely to focus on the failure by the police to investigate the News of the World more thoroughly in 2006 – when Clive Goodman was arrested and charged – and at several points thereafter until the pressure from the growing number of civil claimants, such as Sienna Miller, became too great. Close relationships between various Met commissioner, senior policeman and News International executives were highlighted – relations often burnished over Mayfair lunches and dinners.

3 Can Rupert Murdoch be believed? "I have never asked a prime minister for anything," declared the world's most powerful media mogul in April. But Sir John Major said Murdoch demanded his government change its policy on Europe or its papers would switch to Labour before the 1997 election, and documentary evidence emerged that Murdoch had a previously undisclosed meeting with Margaret Thatcher in Chequers in January 1981 to pave the way for the purchase of the Times.

4 Who declared war on whom, Gordon Brown or Murdoch? Brown and Rupert Murdoch accused each other of lying under oath during the inquiry. The media mogul said an "unbalanced" Brown had threatened to "declare war" on him in a phone call after the Sun declared that it had abandoned Labour in September 2009. Brown said the call "did not happen", and later submitted a dossier of evidence to back up that assertion. Murdoch, though, insisted that he stood by his evidence, noting that he was well aware he had spoken on oath.

5 Did Jeremy Hunt handle his ministerial duties properly? The culture (now health) secretary was accused of acting as a cheerleader for News Corp's £8bn bid for full control of BSkyB, and his adviser Adam Smith resigned, admitting that his emails to the News Corp lobbyist Fred Michel had been inappropriate in "volume and tone".

6 Did politicians get too close to the press? Rupert Murdoch used to go through the back door of Downing Street for meetings, and there was David Cameron's decision to interrupt a family holiday to meet him on a yacht off Santorini in August 2008 reflected the need for politicans to meet him – not the other way around. Murdoch said: "Mr Cameron might have thought stopping in Santorini might impress me. I don't know. Politicians go out of their way to impress people in the press."

Viscount Rothermere, owner of the Daily Mail, subscribed to the same theory, telling Leveson it would be bad manners to raise business matter at social engagements with prime ministers. It will be impossible to legislate against meetings, but there will be calls for guidelines for more frequently published diaries (instead of the current quarterly) of encounters in and beyond Downing Street.

7 What should the future relationship between the press and police look like? Did the police favour some journalists over others? Closeness between the press and police arguably led to errors such as the false insinuation that Chris Jefferies was linked to the murder of Joanna Yeates. But there were also worries that redrawing the rules to prevent journalists buying drinks or coffee for policemen would be an overreaction. The Guardian journalist Nick Davies said that without unauthorised disclosure from the police, the newspaper would not have written its phone-hacking exposes.

8 Should News International be broken up? Ed Miliband argued that Leveson should be prepared to look at media ownership laws, and that News International, whose titles have a 37% market share of UK newspaper sales, should be broken up so no one publisher exercised "overweening power". In practice, that would mean a sale of the Sun or the Times. However, Leveson himself showed little enthusiasm for taking on the task, even though some believe that the sheer size of News International helped engender a belief that it had a special status.

9 Are photographers out of control? Sienna Miller complained of being harassed by a pack of men chasing her down the street, and asked why that was legal just because they were holding cameras. JK Rowling, the Harry Potter author, told the inquiry how unhappy she was whenever her children were photographed. Some argued that the laws on harassment should be changed to deal with persistent photographers. But will the judge examine this topic?

10 Should targets of exposés be forewarned? Prior notification had become a major issue for Sunday tabloids as wealthy celebrities discovered that the easiest way to kill a story was to rush to court on a Saturday and injunct publication. So rather than risk their exclusives, Sunday newspapers would, on occasion, take their chances and publish without comment. This modus operandi cost the former Formula One boss Max Mosley dearly when News of the World ran false allegations that a sex party he had arranged included a Nazi theme. He won £60,000 for invasion of privacy but it was a pyrrhic victory as he is still battling to get the referrences removed from the internet around the world, and continues to demanding new regulations obliging newspapers to notify subjects of stories.

11 Who guards the guardians? Leveson heard endless stories about how the Press Complaints Commission had failed. Fleet Street agrees the PCC must be reformed, but the last few weeks have been taken up by a huge row about whether it is necessary to bring in statutory regulation or an independent regulator backed by statute. The most eagerly awaited aspect of Leveson's report is what he will have to say about replacing the PCC, and what sort of body will be required. But that will be only one aspect of the vast report.

12 Are the courts the right place to resolve libel and privacy actions? Victims of press intrusion who want compensation currently have to go to the courts to seek financial redress. Editors and victims both complained about the potential cost. Leveson himself repeatedly insisted he did not want to make more work for lawyers. He canvassed the idea of replacing court actions with a low-cost libel and privacy tribunal. to resolve complaints, a body that could form part of the revamped PCC. But will he actually recommend something that would require legislation?

13 What about the internet? Leveson's remit to inquire into the the "culture, practices and ethics of the press" made no reference to internet publishing. Various witnesses argued that was something of a mistake, saying they believed there was a real risk that Leveson would recommend a greater regulatory burden to be placed on the British press, so creating greater opportunities for unregulated websites to take advantage. But with technology changing, and a Leveson verdict on this topic thought unlikely, the stage is set for the next great debate: what will constitute a newspaper in the digital era? Should famous tweeters be regulated? Or foreign newspapers? Or is this so impractical as to risk bringing the whole system into jeopardy?

14 How much will it all cost? The inquiry last said it had spent £3.9m, but no final figure has been published.