Broadcasting Act 1996

111 Complaints of unfair treatment etc. U.K.

(1) A fairness complaint may be made by an individual or by a body of persons, whether incorporated or not, but, subject to subsection (2), shall not be entertained by [F1 OFCOM] unless made by the person affected or by a person authorised by him to make the complaint for him.

(2) Where the person affected is an individual who has died, a fairness complaint may be made by his personal representative or by a member of the family of the person affected, or by some other person or body closely connected with him (whether as his employer, or as a body of which he was at his death a member, or in any other way).

(3) Where the person affected is an individual who is for any reason both unable to make a complaint himself and unable to authorise another person to do so for him, a fairness complaint may be made by a member of the family of the person affected, or by some other person or body closely connected with him (whether as his employer, or as a body of which he is a member, or in any other way).

(4) [F1 OFCOM] shall not entertain, or proceed with the consideration of, a fairness complaint if it appears to them that the complaint relates to the broadcasting of the relevant programme, or to its inclusion in a licensed service [F2 or a Tier 1 service], on an occasion more than five years after the death of the person affected, unless it appears to them that in the particular circumstances it is appropriate to do so.

[F3 (4A) OFCOM must not entertain, or proceed with the consideration of, a fairness complaint relating to the inclusion of a programme in a Tier 1 service unless it appears to them that the programme—

(a) was first included in the service after the end of the grace period, or

(b) if first included before then, either remained included or was again included after the end of that period.

(4B) In subsection (4A), “the grace period”, in relation to a Tier 1 service, means the period of 12 months beginning with whichever is the later of the following—

(a) the day on which the on-demand programme service, or non-UK on-demand programme service, became a Tier 1 service;

(b) the day when the first code under section 107(1A) was published.

(4C) Where regulations under section 368HB(1) of the Communications Act 2003 provide that an on-demand programme service, or a non-UK on-demand programme service, specified in the regulations is a Tier 1 service, the regulations may also provide—

(a) that subsections (4A) and (4B) do not apply in relation to the service, or

(b) that those subsections apply in relation to the service as if the reference in subsection (4B) to 12 months were a reference to such lesser period as may be specified in the regulations.]

(5) [F1 OFCOM] may refuse to entertain a fairness complaint if it appears to them not to have been made within a reasonable time after the last occasion on which the relevant programme was broadcast or, as the case may be, included in a licensed service [F4 or a Tier 1 service].

(6) Where, in the case of a fairness complaint, the relevant programme was broadcast or included in a licensed service [F5 or a Tier 1 service] after the death of the person affected, subsection (5) shall apply as if at the end there were added “within five years (or such longer period as may be allowed by [F1 OFCOM] in the particular case under subsection (4)) after the death of the person affected”.

(7) [F1 OFCOM] may refuse to entertain—

(a) a fairness complaint which is a complaint of unjust or unfair treatment if the person named as the person affected was not himself the subject of the treatment complained of and it appears to [F1 OFCOM] that he did not have a sufficiently direct interest in the subject-matter of that treatment to justify the making of a complaint with him as the person affected, or

(b) a complaint made under subsection (2) or (3) by a person other than the person affected or a person authorised by him, if it appears to [F1 OFCOM] that the complainant’s connection with the person affected is not sufficiently close to justify the making of the complaint by him.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 111 substituted (29.12.2003) by Communications Act 2003 (c. 21), s. 411(2), Sch. 15 para. 132(2) (with Sch. 18); S.I. 2003/3142, art. 3(1), Sch. 1 (with art. 11)

F2 Words in s. 111(4) inserted (23.8.2024) by Media Act 2024 (c. 15), s. 55(3)(d), Sch. 7 para. 2(4)(a); S.I. 2024/858, reg. 2(1)(z1)

F3 S. 111(4A)-(4C) inserted (23.8.2024) by Media Act 2024 (c. 15), s. 55(3)(d), Sch. 7 para. 2(4)(b); S.I. 2024/858, reg. 2(1)(z1)

F4 Words in s. 111(5) inserted (23.8.2024) by Media Act 2024 (c. 15), s. 55(3)(d), Sch. 7 para. 2(4)(c); S.I. 2024/858, reg. 2(1)(z1)

F5 Words in s. 111(6) inserted (23.8.2024) by Media Act 2024 (c. 15), s. 55(3)(d), Sch. 7 para. 2(4)(d); S.I. 2024/858, reg. 2(1)(z1)