Christopher Meyer

==The Press Complaints Commission (PCC)==
Meyer was appointed chairman of the [[Press Complaints Commission]], the UK press's self-regulating body, in March 2003.<ref name="Press Complaints Commission">{{cite news|url=http://www.pcc.org.uk/news/index.html?article=MTU=|title=Sir Christopher Meyer biography|publisher=[[Press Complaints Commission]]|accessdate=30 November 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928163513/http://www.pcc.org.uk/news/index.html?article=MTU%3D|archivedate=28 September 2011}}</ref>

During his tenure from 2003 to 2009, Meyer introduced a number of reforms to enhance the profile, independence and credibility of the Commission. These included increasing the majority of independent Commissioners, introducing independent scrutiny of the PCC's internal processes and decision-making, instituting PCC "away-days" twice a year in the cities and towns of the UK and extending the PCC's remit to online editions of newspapers, including audio-visual material. This led to a significant increase in public use of the PCC, with complaints about the press rising from 2,630 in 2002 to 4,698 by the time Meyer retired as chairman. He was also responsible for developing the PCC's pre-publication activity, including its anti-harassment service, which proved highly effective in protecting people from the unwanted attention of media scrums.<ref>PCC annual reviews 2002–2008 @ www.pcc.org.uk</ref>

Meyer's tenure coincided with the gaoling in 2007 of the ''[[News of the World]]'' reporter, [[Clive Goodman]], and the enquiry agent, [[Glenn Mulcaire]], for [[phone hacking]] offences under the [[Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act]].<ref name = Sky>{{cite news|url = https://news.sky.com/story/britains-former-ambassador-to-the-us-sir-christopher-meyer-to-the-us-dies-12661009|title = Britain's former ambassador to the US Sir Christopher Meyer dies|work = [[Sky News]]|date = 29 July 2022|accessdate = 29 July 2022}}</ref> This prompted the resignation of [[Andy Coulson]], the editor of the ''News of the World''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Robinson |first=James |date=4 February 2007 |title=Memo to all editors: Do not tap this man's telephone |url=https://theguardian.com/media/2007/feb/04/pressandpublishing.business |access-date=30 July 2022 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> 

Later, as the phone hacking scandal spread, the PCC, and Meyer himself, were criticised for not having done more to punish those responsible.<ref name = Sky/> However, Meyer's powers as chair were relatively limited in this respect;<ref name = Sky/> [[Igor Judge, Baron Judge|Baron Ivor Judge]], the then [[Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales]], said in a 2011 lecture to the Human Rights Law Conference, "To criticise the PCC for failing to exercise powers it does not have is rather like criticising a judge who passes what appears to be a lenient sentence, when his power to pass a longer sentence is curtailed."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Greenslade |first1=Roy |title=Meyer savages press regulation deal |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2013/mar/21/press-regulation-leveson-inquiry |access-date=30 July 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=21 March 2013 |language=en}}</ref> 

Meyer had himself reminded the [[Leveson Inquiry]] in his witness statement, submitted on 14 September 2011, and at his appearance before the Inquiry on 31 January 2012 that phone hacking was a crime under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and that it was not in the remit of the PCC either to apply the criminal law or to carry out investigations that rightfully belonged to the police.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sir Christopher Meyer |url=https://www.discoverleveson.com/witness/Sir_Christopher_Meyer/3990/ |access-date=30 July 2022 |website=Discover Leveson}}</ref>
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