There is no need for statutory media regulation because there are a whole range of statutory controls that presently exist, Lord Hunt of Wirral said at the launch of the new edition of McNae's Essential Law for Journalists last Friday.

Additionally, judges can fill gaps through case law, said Hunt, chair of the Press Complaints Commission. "You do have in decided cases the ability to fill gaps and we've seen that with some of the recent judgments of Mr Justice Tugendhat and before that David Eady.