A newspaper trade body’s application for judicial review of the decision to make Impress the official press watchdog has moved on to the next stage.

As previously reported on HTFP, the News Media Association has taken legal action in response to the Press Recognition Panel’s decision to recognise Impress, which is funded by Max Mosley, in October.

Documents have now been issued at court and were served on both the PRP and Impress on Thursday last week.

The NMA argues the PRP “erred in law” by concluding that Impress meets its criteria of being an “independent self-regulatory body.”

The organisation is challenging the legality of the decision on the basis that the PRP has made serious and fundamental legal errors in its recognition.

It follows from legal advice received from the NMA’s Solicitors, RPC, and its counsel, Lord Pannick QC and Iain Steele who will represent the NMA at the court hearing.

The organisation has previously stated: “While the precise circumstances of Impress’ formation remain opaque – in particular the role played by the well-known privacy campaigner Max Mosley, who as set out below is the main source of Impress’ funding – what is clear is that Impress was not formed by relevant publishers.”

The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), to which most UK newspaper publishers have opted to subscribe, has made clear it has no intention of applying for recognition on the grounds that it amounts to state-sponsored regulation of the press.