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Section 13: Meaning of “journalistic material”

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (1984 c. 60)

(1) Subject to subsection (2) below, in this Act “journalistic material” means material acquired or created for the purposes of journalism.

(2) Material is only journalistic material for the purposes of this Act if it is in the possession of a person who acquired or created it for the purposes of journalism.

(3) A person who receives material from someone who intends that the recipient shall use it for the purposes of journalism is to be taken to have acquired it for those purposes.

Reproduced from legislation.gov.uk as captured on 2026-07-13. Statute is amended over time — check the source below for the version in force. This is a reference, not legal advice.
View s.13 on legislation.gov.uk

Source: legislation.gov.uk, Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0.