Leveson recognises that there needs to be a public discussion of when, in journalism, the end can be regarded as justifying the means — or, as he put it, "what amounts to the public good [and] to what extent the public interest should be taken into account and by whom". As such, he is planning to hold a series of seminars in October on the law, the ethics of journalism, media regulation and investigative reporting.

Seminars are something of an innovation for a statutory inquiry, though the so-called detainee inquiry — into whether Britain was implicated in the "improper treatment" of detainees held by other countries following 9/11 — held one in June. Experts were invited to deliver a series of lectures to the inquiry panel at a meeting open to the media and invited guests. The idea of informal information-gathering sessions is a good one, although I hope the Leveson seminars turn out to be rather more interactive.

But not everything will be done on an informal basis. Leveson made it clear that he would be using the powers he has under the Inquiries Act 2005 to order people to provide evidence in the form of written statements and to hand over any documents they may have that relate to the inquiry. These are in addition to the powers he possesses to require individuals to give oral evidence on oath. Although there are exceptions covering evidence that might incriminate a witness or is privileged in some other way, deliberate refusal to give evidence is an offence, punishable with up to six months' imprisonment. It may also be punished as a contempt of court.

Leveson has already demonstrated an impressive grasp of the issues. There is every chance he will produce his initial report on time. But the Home Affairs Committee pointed out in July that, unless the police were given more resources, it would be "at least a decade" before they notified all potential victims of phone hacking. Nobody is seriously expecting the criminal investigation to take as long as that. But if Leveson can't start Part Two of his inquiry this time next year, he should go back to judging until he can.