Mandatory Referrals are part of the BBC’s editorial management system. They are an essential part of the process to ensure compliance and must be observed.
Referrals to Director Editorial Policy and Standards
13.2.1 Requests from third parties for access to unused material, including notes, rushes or audio recordings, should normally be referred to Director Editorial Policy and Standards or a delegated representative.
(See 13.3.31)
13.2.2 All requests for untransmitted or otherwise unused material – including notes – from the police or in connection with court proceedings, possible court proceedings or other procedures in which the material may be regarded as evidence (such as disciplinary hearings by regulatory bodies), must be referred to Programme Legal Advice and Director Editorial Policy and Standards.
(See 13.3.35)
Other Referrals
13.2.3 Any proposal to use archive content that has previously been found in breach of editorial standards or content regulation codes must be referred to Editorial Policy.
(See 13.3.1)
13.2.4 Any proposal to use a light touch method of compliance for large scale release of archive content must be referred to Editorial Policy.
(See 13.3.7)
13.2.5 Any proposal to use potentially distressing archive content against the wishes of the relevant contributors, victims or the immediate family of dead people must be approved by a senior editorial figure, or for independent production companies by the commissioning editor, who should normally consult Editorial Policy.
(See 13.3.13)
13.2.6 Programme Legal Advice must be consulted about any proposed use of archive material of a crime if potentially related court proceedings are pending or in progress.
(See 13.3.17)
13.2.7 Any plans to re-use, reversion or make available content featuring members of the Royal Family or the Royal Palaces must be referred to the BBC’s Royal Liaison Officer. This does not apply to news content showing members of the Royal Family carrying out public duties.
(See 13.3.18)
13.2.8 Any proposal to remove online content from the archive, whether it is published on a BBC site or syndicated elsewhere, must be referred to the relevant senior editorial figure, or for independent production companies to the commissioning editor, who may consult Editorial Policy.
(See 13.3.25)
13.2.9 Heads of Editorial Standards must be consulted over the wording of programme-specific explanations for a Revocation, Revision or Correction Label.
(See 13.3.27)
13.2.10 Requests to remove mothballed pages with a banner headline stating the page has not recently been updated, must be referred to the Managing Editor, BBC Online.
(See 13.3.28)
13.2.11 All requests for transmitted content in connection with court proceedings, or other procedures in which the material may be regarded as evidence, must be referred to Programme Legal Advice and Editorial Policy.
(See 13.3.29)