The British government has dropped its proposals to tighten freedom of information legislation that would make rules more restrictive on cost limits for FOI requests and limit media access to coroners' courts and will instead investigate the idea for a freedom of expression audit for future legislation, the UK's Newspaper Society reported Thursday.

“We agree with Select Committee on Culture that a free press is a hallmark of our democracy, that there is no case for statutory regulation of the press, that self- regulation of the press should be maintained and that it is for publishers themselves to demonstrate by their decisions that they can sustain and bolster public confidence in the way information is gathered and used,” Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, according to the NS.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw will now be in charge of considering the idea of the audit across the government.

“The NS is delighted that the Government has abandoned the restrictions on freedom of information and open justice,” Santha Rasaiah, the NS's political, editorial and regulatory affairs director, said in a statement. “We are pleased that the proposal for a freedom of expression audit will be pursued. We hope that the principle will be immediately applied to existing proposals and Bills already before Parliament.”