Responding to news of a delay in the signing of the Royal Charter for self-regulation of the press, Dr Evan Harris, Associate Director of Hacked Off said:

All three party leaders promised the victims of press abuse that they would deliver a system which would meet the standards laid down by the Leveson Report.Only one of these Royal Charters is compliant and this is the case by a mile. Victims expect all of the parties to stand by their leaders' promises.Press reform has been overdue for decades. If there is another delay for a further month, that can be borne.

What is the reason for the delay?Hacked Off understands that the Government have received legal advice that, in order to avoid being judicially reviewed, before the cross-party Leveson charter can be signed at Privy Council, they must formally consider the Royal Charter prepared by News International, Associated Newspapers and the Telegraph Group.Is the Government still committed to the cross-party charter?A government source has told Hacked Off: "The cross-party Royal Charter meets the Leveson principles, has been agreed by the three main political parties, and has been approved by Parliament. The Government's view on the cross-party Royal Charter has not changed. We believe it would put in place a system of independent self-regulation of the press. It would provide victims of press excesses, like the McCanns and the Dowlers, with real redress while protecting the freedom of the press."What is the timetable from here?"Pre-publication" of the press's charter on the Privy Council website is expected to continue until 24th May. This is not a formal consultation process. From 24th May to the 21st June, the DCMS is expected to carry out a formal consideration of the press charter. In order to proceed to the next stage, the press version will then require the approval of all three parties. Assuming that (any of) the three parties keep their promise to victims to provide a Leveson-compliant charter, the Government will have to reject the press charter at this stage. When the press charter is rejected, the cross-party Leveson charter will be put to the Privy Council. This is expected to happen soon after 21st June.Can the press version of the charter become "Leveson compliant"?No. It is impossible for the press charter to meet the Leveson criteria, as it is deficient in at least 20 ways. See this blog for some examples.