The Press Complaints Commission is an independent body which deals with complaints from members of the public about the editorial content of newspapers and magazines. Our service to the public is free, quick and easy. We aim to deal with most complaints in just forty working days - and there is absolutely no cost to the people complaining.

The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) is an independent organisation which was formed ten years ago - at the start of 1991 - by the newspaper and magazine publishing industry.

Throughout those ten years, the PCC has maintained two central tasks:

• to deal swiftly and effectively with complaints from members of the public about possible breaches of the editors' Code of Practice; and
• to oversee and administer that Code, written by editors, for editors.

In 2000, the PCC dealt with around 2,300 complaints - bringing to over 25,000 the number of complaints it has dealt with in its first ten years.

The Commission's aim with every complaint it receives which raises a possible breach of the Code is to try and resolve it speedily and to the satisfaction of the complainant. Because of our skill in sucessfully conciliating so many complaints, the Commission had to adjudicate on only 57 complaints in 2000. As in each of the previous ten years, every newspaper or magazine which was censured by the PCC published our adjudication in full and with due prominence.

The PCC itself is comprised of both lay members and editors. In order to ensure the independence of the Commission - which is generously funded by the industry (with absolutely no constraint on the independence of our decisions) - lay members are in the clear majority.

As this Review sets out, in its first ten years the Commission has been increasingly successful in three central areas.

First, it has clearly raised standards of reporting - based on an editors' Code which is undoubtedly the toughest in Europe. Most of those activities which brought newspapers and magazines into disrepute in the 1980s have long since vanished - and the Commission continues to ratchet up standards on the back of adjudications and resolved complaints.

Second, it has done a great deal to protect the most vulnerable members of society. The Code contains tough provisions on the reporting of children, of hospital patients, of victims of sexual assault, and of people suffering from grief and shock. In these areas, the Commission has been particularly vigilant - ensuring that those most at risk receive the greatest protection.