The Complaints Committee judges complaints relating to potential breaches of the Editors’ Code and decides on what a newspaper or magazine should do if the Code has been breached, including whether or not to find that publication of a correction or critical ruling is needed to remedy a breach of the Code, and where this should appear. The Committee has 12 members including Chairman Lord Edward Faulks, who is the Committee's Chair. The majority of the members are independent and have no connections with the newspaper and magazine industry. The others have recent senior experience in the newspaper or magazine industries but are not currently serving editors.
Lord Faulks has a long career as a barrister specialising in claims arising from the Human Rights Act, professional and clinical negligence, personal injury, education, police claims and public law. He became a QC in 1996. He was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010 and served as Justice Minister from 2013-2016. He now sits as an unaffiliated peer.
Andrew Pettie has worked as a journalist and editor for newspapers, magazines and publishers including the Telegraph Media Group where he was the Executive Head of Culture, EMAP, the BBC and Encyclopaedia Britannica. He is now a consultant, contributing editor and writer.
Nazir Afzal was Chief Crown Prosecutor for the North West of England and has prosecuted some of the UK’s most high profile cases, including child sex abuse in Rochdale. More recently, he has worked as an international expert on extremism and radicalisation and is a member of the Manchester Mayor’s Commission for Cohesion. Nazir was awarded an OBE for his work with the CPS and involvement with local communities.
Andy Brennan was a Deputy Director in the National Crime Agency and prior to this, a senior police officer in the West Yorkshire Police where he held positions as the Head of the Homicide and Major Enquiry Teams and Head of Professional Standards and Counter Corruption Unit. He was awarded the Queens Police Medal for services to policing and the public in 2012.
Tristan Davies is the former Editor of the Independent on Sunday, Executive Editor of the Sunday Times, Deputy Editor of the Mail on Sunday and Editorial Director of Mail+. In his 35 years at national newspapers he has worked across news, features, digital and design. He now works as a print and digital media consultant.
David Hutton spent 22 years as a senior leader in secondary schools, initially as Deputy Head and then as Head. He represented fellow headteachers on Suffolk’s Schools’ Forum, chaired the Governing Body of a Special School, and was a founder member of the Ipswich Opportunity Area Board. He is also a qualified Ofsted Inspector.
Alastair Machray is the former Editor of The Liverpool Echo and Editor-in-Chief of Trinity Mirror Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales. He spent 25 years as a daily newspaper editor, making him the longest-serving daily editor in the UK. He has worked in both national and regional newsrooms, winning numerous awards, including, in 2020, an MBE for services to local journalism. He lives on The Wirral and now runs a media consulting business.
Helyn Mensah is a barrister specialising in intellectual property law at 33 Bedford Row chambers. She has experience in a broad range of intellectual property matters and has advised a number of well-known domestic and international clients. In addition to her practice, Helyn sits as a member of the Strategic Governance Panel to the new English non-household water retail market, and chairs its General Data Protection Regulation Committee.
Asmita Naik is an independent consultant on international development and human rights following a career at the United Nations in Geneva in the 1990s. She serves as a magistrate and on various professional regulatory bodies. She co-authored a 2002 landmark report which put the issue of sexual exploitation by aid workers on the global agenda and has been involved in measures to strengthen oversight of the aid sector since then.
Mark Payton is an editor and journalist with 30 years of specialist publishing experience. He was editorial director at Haymarket Consumer Media and now works as compliance consultant for the Trust Project, an international consortium of news organisations working towards greater transparency and accountability in the global news industry.
Allan Rennie is Honorary Professor of Journalism at the University of Stirling and Non Executive Director of NHS Forth Valley. In a 30-year career in local and national newspapers, he edited the Clydebank Post, Daily Record, Sunday Mail, served as Editorial Development Director of Trinity Mirror Nationals and was managing director of Media Scotland. Allan is a member of the Scottish Government’s short-life working group on public interest journalism.
Miranda Winram is Chair of the IPSO Readers’ Panel and former Head of Strategy and Insight and Board Member of Forest Enterprise. She was a non-exec member of the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Fitness to Practice committee and is currently a public appointee to the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Committee for the North East.
Complaints Committee code of conduct
Complaints Committee Handbook (2021)
2022
January 2022
2021
October 2021
September 2021
July 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
January 2021
2020
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
July 2020
June 2020
April 2020
March 2020
January 2020
2019
December 2019
October 2019
September 2019
July 2019
June 2019
April 2019
March 2019
2018
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
July 2018
June 2018
April 2018
March 2018
January 2018
2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
2016
December 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
June 2016
April 2016
March 2016
January 2016
2015
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
July 2015
June 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
2014