Four files relating to alleged offences committed by journalists have been sent to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider if charges can be brought.
The cases concern allegations of misconduct in a public office, perverting the course of justice, witness intimidation and harassment.
Interception of communications, thought to be phone hacking, is also included.
Four journalists, one police officer and six other people are allegedly involved.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, did not give a timescale for making a decision on charges, saying: “We are now entering a period where we are likely to make a decision one way or another.”
There are 43 people currently on bail in connection with three police inquiries. Some of the suspects referred to in the files have not been questioned by police yet, the DPP said.
The charge of misconduct in a public office relates to the police officer and one journalist.
One journalist and six other people are linked to the charge of perverting the course of justice, while one journalist is linked to the witness harassment charge, and one journalist is accused of intercepting communication.
The news of cases being passed to the CPS comes on the same day that Mr Starmer published interim guidelines on the approach prosecutors should take when assessing the public interest in cases affecting the media.
The guidelines are likely to be relevant when prosecutors are considering whether to charge journalists – or those who interact with journalists – with criminal offences that may have been committed in the course of their work as journalists, he said.
There are three police operations currently under way: Operation Weeting looking at alleged phone hacking; Operation Elveden looking at alleged illegal payments made to police; and Operation Tuleta looking into Operation Tuleta is investigating a number of allegations regarding breach of privacy which fall outside the remit of Operation Weeting, including computer hacking.—BBC
