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2022-12-31-accounts

Company number: 06621203 Registered charity: 1128789

Registered name: Media Legal Defence Initiative. Registered charity in England and Wales (1128789). A company limited by guarantee in England and Wales (06621203).

Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements

For the year ended 31 December 2022

Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Contents

Reference and administrative information 3
Trustees’ annual report 4
Independent auditor’s report 21
Statement of financial activities(incorporating an income and expenditure account) 24
Balance sheet 25
Statement of cash flows 26
Notes to the financial statements 27

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Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Reference and administrative information

Company number Country of incorporation

06621203 England and Wales

Charity number Country of registration

1128789 England and Wales

Registered office and operational address

5 Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 1LG

Trustees

Trustees, who are also directors under company law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report were as follows:

Sarah BULL (Chair)

Matthew FRANCIS (Chair of the Finance, Risk and Audit Committee) David JONES Steven FINIZIO Caroline FROST Catherine ANITE María Teresa RONDEROS Galina ARAPOVA (from March 2022) Peter HYDE (from August 2022) Chivonne PRESTON (from August 2022) Victoria DEAN (from October 2022) Elizabeth RIVERA (from October 2022) Smita SHAH (resigned from the board in February 2022) and Richard BROPHY (resigned from the board in August 2022).

Key management

Alinda VERMEER (Chief Executive Officer until February 2023) Carlos GAIO (Chief Executive Officer from March 2023)

Bankers

Triodos Bank Barclays Bank
Deanery Street 1 Churchill Place
Bristol London
BS1 5AS E14 5HP

Auditor

Sayer Vincent LLP Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor Invicta House 108-114 Golden Lane, London, EC1Y 0TL

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Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Trustees’ Annual Report

The trustees present their report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022.

The trustees review the aims, objectives and activities of the Media Legal Defence Initiative (hereinafter Media Defence) each year. This report looks at what Media Defence has achieved in the reporting period. The trustees report the success of each key activity and the benefits that Media Defence has brought to those groups of people that it is set up to help. The review also helps the trustees to ensure the charity’s aims, objectives and activities remain focused on its stated purposes.

Reference and administrative information set out on page 3 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the memorandum and articles of association, the requirements of a directors’ report as required under company law, and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: SORP applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102.

Objectives and Activities

Charitable Objectives

Media Defence’s charitable objectives are to promote human rights throughout the world, in particular through protecting freedom of speech and the right to free expression, and to advance education in law, including human rights and media law.

Mission

Media Defence’s core mission is to ensure legal protection of journalists and media workers under threat for reporting on issues of public interest, in the belief that freedom of expression is essential to holding power to account.

Mandate

Media Defence works globally, where there is the greatest need, to ensure legal defence and protection of journalists, citizen journalists and media outlets from legal threats related to their journalism that violate the right to freedom of expression, ensuring that they can continue to report on issues of public interest.

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Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Main activities

Emergency Defence

Media Defence provides free emergency legal assistance to journalists and independent media in need across the world. We support the legal defence of journalists and media houses when they are sued or prosecuted, and we help them bring legal action to compel the state to protect their rights where these have been violated, including to investigate abuses and bring perpetrators of attacks to justice.

Our assistance can be in the form of a grant to a local lawyer to fund the legal defence of a journalist or media outlet, and/or pro bono legal support by our in-house legal team. We also help identify a lawyer where necessary.

We provide assistance to all requests for emergency legal support that fall within our mandate where we are the only realistic avenue to provide the help required. In the event that we do not have the financial ability to support all cases within our mandate, we prioritise cases where there is a real risk that the case will result in the imprisonment of the journalist concerned, or the case is of potential strategic importance.

Strategic Litigation

We undertake strategic litigation to improve the climate for press freedom worldwide. We directly represent journalists in cases before influential domestic courts and international tribunals, intervene in cases that are already under way, and we support local lawyers to do the same.

Our strategic litigation priorities are: 1) obtaining redress for journalists who have become victims of violence and harassment and 2) protecting free speech online. In order to respond to the rapidly changing freedom of expression landscape, we also litigate other strategic cases that offer an important opportunity to advance media freedom standards.

Local Legal Capacity Building

We build local legal capacity to defend journalists in two ways:

1. Grants to partner organisations

Media Defence provided grants of up to £25,000 in 2022 and added value support to partner organisations in countries or regions where there is a strong need for legal support for journalists and where it can be difficult for independent media to obtain quality and affordable legal support. This support enables them to provide legal defence to journalists in their countries.

By strategically selecting partner organisations in regions around the world and building and strengthening their legal capacity, we are able to establish a more sustainable infrastructure for quality media defence at the national level. Working with and through partner organisations also boosts the availability, speed, value for money and sustainability of legal defence for journalists at a national level. Partners are knowledgeable of domestic laws and the political and cultural context; they are able to move nimbly, providing support faster and with lower cost than would otherwise be possible.

We assess partnership applications on the following criteria:

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Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

2. Training of lawyers

Lawyers are our primary partners in defending the media and it is of paramount importance that they have the expertise necessary to successfully defend journalists under threat. We run litigation surgeries and provide ‘on the job’ mentoring for lawyers to develop their technical expertise in litigating freedom of expression cases, ultimately building strong legal communities able to defend journalists, citizen journalists and media outlets and promote media freedom through the courts.

The trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. All Media Defence’s charitable activities focus on ensuring legal protection of journalists in the belief that freedom of expression is essential to hold those with power to account. They are undertaken to further our charitable purposes for the public benefit. Media Defence does not engage in political campaigning.

2020-2024 Strategy

Press freedom has seen a sharp decline over the past few years and the context in which we operate is only forecast to worsen as insecurity and populism spread, while governments copy restrictive and abusive practices from others. Increasingly, journalists face legal threats alone, without the protection of resourced media houses or effective legal representation. The COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated this downward spiral.

Since 2020, we have set out to increase our impact, ensuring more journalists and independent media have access to affordable legal support. We are focused on increasing and deepening the support we offer to our partners to enhance the availability of quality legal defence for journalists around the world and the coordination of strategic litigation on press freedom and freedom of expression.

By 2024, we aim to:

In order to deliver on this ambitious strategy, we have also prioritised increasing our income and strategically communicating our work to broaden our reach and become recognised globally as a centre of expertise in legal defence of press freedom.

Achievements And Performance

Impact of COVID-19 related measures on our achievements

The measures taken by the UK government as well as governments in countries in which we operate, continued to impact the delivery of and the demand for Media Defence’s activities in the following ways.

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Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Despite the disruption caused by the pandemic, and economic and political crises in many countries where we operate, Media Defence continues to make good progress toward achieving the goals set out in our 2020-2024 strategy. During 2022, we exceeded the strategic goals for our emergency defence and strategic litigation programmes due to the high level of demand for our support.

Overall picture

Journalists faced challenging and dangerous circumstances around the world, and the need for legal support to the media continued to grow.

We supported journalists and media outlets in 188 new cases in 2022, exceeding our target of taking on 130 new cases. [2] As litigation can be enduring, these new cases only form a small part of our overall case load. In total, our team worked on 543 cases during the year, in 82 countries. As a comparison, in 2021 we worked on 466 cases throughout the year.

We supported 18 local organisations to deliver legal defence to media in their countries, [3] which enabled them to litigate at least a further 500 cases across a range of freedom of expression issues and courts in countries where the need for support is the highest. We also trained 47 lawyers, expanding our training programme into Latin America and South Asia.

With the pandemic accelerating the decline in media freedom, it has become more difficult to obtain a successful outcome in cases and we saw our success rate in strategic cases decrease to 60%. The decrease in the success rate was visible in particular in cases at the domestic level, with cases at regional courts and international bodies retaining a strong success rate of 84% (compared to 88% in 2021). Legal threats and sanctions used to deter independent journalism can be overcome, if necessary by progressing cases to the regional or international level, and access to high quality legal support free of charge is more important than ever to stem the tide.

1 International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, Journalism & the Pandemic: a global snapshot of impacts, available at: https://www.icfj.org/our-work/journalism-and-pandemic-survey. 2 In 2021 we took on 124 new cases.

3 20 grants were approved in 2022, but 2 were not contracted by the year end.

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Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Emergency defence

Out of the 188 new cases, 129 cases fell under our emergency defence programme. [4] We worked on 245 cases in total under this programme throughout the year. Journalists, citizen journalists and media houses in need of legal help applied for support by submitting an application form to our grants team. Grant requests were on average approved within 10 business days after receipt of a complete application.

Typically, we responded to requests for assistance by providing funding to hire a local lawyer and working with the local lawyer to secure a good outcome for the journalist concerned. Our in-house legal team provided technical legal support in seven cases.

We supported the highest number of new cases in Brazil (49). In addition, we also supported a high number of cases in Azerbaijan (23), Yemen (6) and Ethiopia (4).

Number of new emergency defence cases supported (cumulative)

Emergency defence cases by region, 2022.

4 The emergency defence work is reflected in the Statement of Financial Activities (a record of all income and expenditure in 2022) as ‘Support to Individuals for Legal Defence’.

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Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Strategic litigation

We took on 59 new strategic cases, compared to 53 in 2021, [5] bringing the total number of active strategic cases we supported in 2022 to 216.

Most new strategic cases originated from Azerbaijan (14), Colombia (6), Nigeria (5), Hungary (4) and Russia (3).

50 strategic cases came to an end in 2022. In those cases we obtained an average success rate of 60%. This is a decrease compared to 2021, when 65% of cases were successful or partially successful. This indicator increases to 84% for strategic cases litigated at a regional court or international mechanism.

Number of new strategic cases (per quarter, cumulative)

% of strategic cases with objectives fully or partially met (of cases closed per quarter)

5 The strategic litigation work is reflected in the Statement of Financial Activities (a record of all income and expenditure in 2022) as ‘Strategic Litigation’, which includes grants to cover legal fees of local lawyers in strategic cases supported by in-house lawyers acting pro bono, as well as filing and translation costs.

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Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Local legal capacity building

Grants to partner organisations [6]

In 2022, we provided 18 grants to support local organisations to deliver legal defence to media in their countries, compared to 15 in 2021. In total, we had 19 active partners in 2022. The grants awarded in 2022 enabled our partners to litigate over 500 cases across a range of freedom of expression issues and courts. [7] Throughout the year, we provided additional legal support in 10 cases taken by partner organisations.

Our partners in 2022 were Media Policy Institute (Kyrgyzstan), Foundation for Society and Legal Studies (TOHAV, Turkey), Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (Colombia), Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Poland), Human Rights Platform (Ukraine), Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA, Turkey), Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (Hungary), Ossigeno per l’Informazione (Italy), Legal Aid for Cambodia (Cambodia), Abraji (Brazil), Le Collectif des Associations Contre l’Impunité au Togo (CACIT, Togo), Volunteers for Sustainable Development in Africa (VOSIEDA, Liberia), Campaign for Free Expression (CFE, South Africa), the Network of Public Interest Lawyers (NETPIL, Uganda), a partner in Russia, three partners in South Asia and a partner in the MENA region. [8]

As part of our strategic goal to deepen the support we provide to our partners, we collaborated on litigation and provided fundraising support to some of our partners. We also hosted two lawyers from our partner organisations in Turkey and Brazil for a fellowship with Media Defence’s legal team.

We were gradually able to return to site visits in 2022, visiting our partner in Uganda in August.

Training of lawyers [9]

Litigation surgeries, workshops and peer learning events

We returned to in-person litigation surgeries again in 2022, expanding our training programme into Latin America and South Asia in addition to sub-Saharan Africa. We trained a total of 47 lawyers in four litigation surgeries.

We also ran know-how events, in which 10 sub-Saharan African training alumni came together for different sessions relating to freedom of expression online. These sessions built on the content of litigation surgeries and helped strengthen the network of litigators who have attended our trainings.

We collaborated with relevant institutions to provide training on freedom of expression law to journalists, factcheckers and lawyers and, where appropriate, other professionals working in the freedom of expression field.

Training Resource Hub

The sustainability of our training programme and accessibility of our training materials is bolstered by our online Training Resource Hub. [10] In 2022, the Training Resource Hub was expanded to support litigation surgeries in South Asia and Latin America, including a wider range of topics and languages. The Training Hub nearly doubled its page views in 2022 with 4,201 unique views.

The Training Resource Hub contains our training modules and supporting materials, such as case law and guidance, in an easy to navigate format. This enables lawyers who have not (yet) been able to attend our trainings to access any relevant materials independently. The Training Resource Hub also serves as an invaluable resource for lawyers working on relevant cases involving the media.

6 This is reflected in the Statement of Financial Activities (a record of all income and expenditure in 2022) as ‘Support to NGOs for Legal Justice’.

7 This figure is based on agreed outputs.

8 Names withheld to protect the identity of the organisations.

9 This is reflected in the Statement of Financial Activities (a record of all income and expenditure in 2022) as ‘Support for training and capacity building’.

10 See https://www.mediadefence.org/resource-hub/.

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Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Collaboration with University of Edinburgh

As part of our ongoing partnership with the University of Edinburgh, [11] we organise and supervise a one-year freedom of expression clinic during the academic year 2022-2023. We assist students in drafting two petitions to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) on behalf of a human rights defender and a blogger from Vietnam, both arbitrarily detained following their peaceful reporting on human rights issues in their countries. Media Defence assists students in drafting the petitions which will be submitted to the UNWGAD in 2023.

Beneficiaries of our services

Our primary beneficiaries are journalists, citizen journalists and media outlets who are facing legal threats for their reporting. The local organisations we fund and the lawyers we train and connect to others are also beneficiaries. Indirectly, as a result of supporting and encouraging a free and independent media able to publish in the public interest, the general public are also a beneficiary of our activities.

Our partners are the lawyers we work with, support, mentor and learn from, as well as the local organisations we fund and support to provide legal representation and defence to hundreds of journalists each year.

Journalist Impact Survey

In 2022, we carried out our sixth annual Journalist Impact Survey to look at the longer-term impact of our support on our primary beneficiaries, journalists.

Our Journalist Impact Survey is designed to understand the quality of our legal and financial support to journalists in addition to gaining a greater appreciation of the role of legal defence in ensuring journalists can continue to report, which informs Media Defence’s future case work. The survey therefore allows us to test our theory of change: access to legal defence enables journalists to continue reporting and holding governments and authorities to account for the public.

86 cases supported under our Emergency Defence and Strategic Litigation programmes came to an end in 2022. We directly contacted 23 journalists [12] and asked lawyers to contact another 28 journalists on our behalf. 22 responded to our Journalist Impact Survey.

95% of the journalists who responded to the Journalist Impact Survey continue to report on issues of public interest. In addition, many felt that their case had a positive impact by increasing public support of/respect for journalism and encouraged other journalists to seek justice. 95% were satisfied with their legal representation by Media Defence directly or through the lawyer we engaged on their behalf and 100% would recommend our support to other journalists who are in legal trouble. 64% were satisfied with the outcome of their case.

Looking at these key findings compared to previous years, we see that satisfaction with the impact of our support continues to be at a high level.

11 The clinic is usually attended by students from Edinburgh Law School who are in the third or fourth year of their undergraduate programme. The clinic provides a unique opportunity for students to work alongside practicing lawyers on international casework. Each year, there are introductory sessions delivered by Media Defence and course supervisors (external barristers) on matters of freedom of expression and human rights law before the students are introduced to two live case studies. The clinic educates law students on matters of freedom of expression and human rights law, inspiring them to pursue a career in the field, but also delivers concrete results in real cases.

12 We were unable to contact journalists for whom we did not have contact details or who were in detention. We also excluded cases in which we submitted third party interventions, as we represented ourselves in these cases.

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Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

2018 Survey 2019 Survey 2020 Survey 2021 Survey 2022 Survey
% that would
recommend MD		 98% 100% 95% 100% 100%
to other journalists
% that have continued
to report on public		 90% 100% 90% 84% 95%
interest topics
% satisfied with their
legal representation		 100% 82% 90% 77% 95%
% satisfied with the
outcome of their case		 85% 50% 95% 68% 64%

91% believe that their journalistic activity will result in more legal challenges in the future. Whilst our legal defence is therefore having an impact, the environment in many countries remains repressive and Media Defence will continue to adapt its litigation strategies accordingly. The full report can be accessed on our website. [13]

Project and programme evaluations

Media Defence carried out a number of evaluations in order to measure outcomes, impact, and identify learnings for improvement. In addition to the Journalist Impact Survey outlined above, this included a survey that looks at the impact our support has on the lawyers we work with as well as the partner organisations we fund. We also evaluated the Sub Award programme in sub-Saharan Africa and conducted a baseline evaluation of a new partner in the region.

At the midpoint of our strategy period, we also conducted an interim evaluation of our progress towards achieving the goals set out in the 2020-2024 strategy, assessing whether our goals needed adjusting to take into account the impact of the pandemic. We worked with external evaluators to assess the impact of our projects in the Indo Pacific region and in sub-Saharan Africa.

Our evaluations are summarised in our 2022 Learning Report which can be found on our website. [14]

Fundraising

In line with our 2020 – 2024 strategy, Media Defence aims to increase its income each year to enable us to help more journalists who are facing legal threats as a result of their work. We are also diversifying our income streams and increasing our unrestricted income.

We have successfully secured sufficient funds to continue our work and secured over 93% of our income for 2023. Our efforts continue to be focussed on diversifying our income in order to strengthen our resilience. Our Development Cluster, fully staffed since 2020, is supported in these efforts through the Development Committee, which is composed of five trustees. The Development Cluster will integrate learnings from fundraising initiatives in 2022 into our fundraising plans for 2023.

13 See https://www.mediadefence.org/news/our-journalist-impact-survey-2022/ 14 The report is available at https://www.mediadefence.org/our-impact/.

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Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Media Defence is committed to ensuring that all of our fundraising activities are carried out in an ethical manner, that any funds accepted come from ethical sources, and that our fundraising respects and protects our independence, impartiality and mission:

Donated services

In 2022, Media Defence benefited from the donated services of some of the world’s leading lawyers and law firms. Jointly, law firms contributed 720 hours of pro bono legal services. The highest contributing firm was WilmerHale. We are extremely grateful to all our pro bono partners, whose contribution of free legal services made our work possible.

Volunteers

Media Defence engages volunteers on a rolling basis to support our legal and communications work. Our volunteer engagement is designed to be mutually beneficial for Media Defence and the volunteer - providing valuable experience to the volunteer and additional capacity to the organisation.

Volunteers bring new ideas, creative ways of thinking and a different perspective to our work, while at the same time being engaged in meaningful activities that provide them with new challenges and learning experiences. We aim to make volunteering a challenging, worthwhile and enjoyable experience.

During the year we worked with one volunteer, who committed a total of approximately 270 hours assisting with legal research into procedural regulations of African human rights mechanisms, laws relating to online violence against journalists, and international freedom of expression standards applicable to cartoonists. Two volunteers also supported our communications.

Organisational Management and Administration

IT Infrastructure

In line with our plans for 2022, we replaced and upgraded some of our IT infrastructure. We put the further development and implementation of our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) / Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system on hold due to staff changes in the finance and operations team. Once the implementation is complete, this system will combine functions of our financial management software, grant making software and fundraising support into a centralised database with a view to increasing our operational effectiveness by creating visibility and accessibility of data, eliminating duplication of efforts, and improving collaboration and reporting.

15 For a full overview of our donors, see https://www.mediadefence.org/our-organisation/.

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Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Financial Review

Income

In 2022, we received total incoming resources of £2.6 million, of which £484,000 were donated services. Due to the increase in unrestricted funds, our overall income increased by 26%, and financial donations continued to increase by 19% as a result of our investment in a development team in 2020.

47% of the incoming resources were restricted to either a region or a theme. 53% of funding was unrestricted. Donated services constituted 39% of the restricted incoming resources, compared to 26% in 2021.

2022 Incoming Resources

As shown in the chart above financial donations form a high portion of incoming resources in 2022, with Trusts and Foundations continuing to be the main source of our funding. Nonetheless, pro bono legal support continues to play an essential role in enabling the delivery of activities.

Expenditure

2022 saw a 15% increase in expenditure from £2 million in 2021 to £2.3 million in 2022. Overall, there is an almost equitable spend between Emergency Defence and Grants to partner organisations and a higher amount spent on Strategic Litigation, due in part to the growth in pro-bono support in 2022. The below shows the split during 2022 of expenditure between each of our charitable activities.

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Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

2022 Expenditure

In 2022, Media Defence recorded a 7% increase in grants spent on ‘Emergency Defence’, but a 30% increase in number of grants awarded (2022: 129, 2021: 99).

We also spent less on Grants to Partner Organisations while awarding three more grants than we did in 2021 (2022: 18 grants contracted, 2021: 15 grants awarded).

Our total support and governance costs in 2022 was £307,742, compared to £308,487 in 2021, representing 13% of our total expenditure (compared to 15% in 2021) [16] .

4% of our total expenditure was spent on raising funds, which reflects that 2022 was the second year in which we had a fully staffed development team in place and the subsequent increase in fundraising activity, including donor reporting. Support costs include salary and overhead costs, and have been allocated across activities on the basis shown in Note 1(i) of the Financial Statements.

Comparison: Current and Prior Year Charitable Objectives Spend

We closed the year with a net income of £352,106 (2021: £100,781) and have an improved liquidity ratio of 3.3:1 (from 2.4:1 in 2021).

16 Excluding donated services, our support cost in 2022 represented 17% of total expenditure (compared to 19% in 2021).

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Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

At the end of 2022, we carried forward £1,292,428, of which £169,355 were restricted funds (funding with a thematic and/or regional restriction) and £1,123,073 were unrestricted funds (£365,175 of designated reserves and £757,898 of donor funds carried forward for ongoing activities). The latter balance is abnormally high due to several receipts arriving just before year end.

Principal risks and uncertainties

The Board of Trustees, management team and staff actively discuss, manage and mitigate risk throughout the year. Media Defence has a risk policy and risk register which are reviewed and updated regularly. Strategic risks are owned by the Board and considered at least annually, while management of other risks is delegated to management who report the effectiveness of key controls to the Board.

The following risks have the greatest overall potential impact on Media Defence in 2023.

Cyber Security and Information Technology Risk

The most significant risk currently facing the organisation relates to cyber security and information technology. A malicious cyber-attack could lead to inability to access data and/or loss of data, including information that might endanger our beneficiaries, and loss of funds. We mitigate this risk by performing regular internal and external reviews of digital security threats, upgrading procedures and planning, increasing staff awareness and regular penetration testing of our website.

Financial risk, including worldwide inflationary pressures

Rising energy and food prices have fuelled higher inflation. While we are not dependant on individual giving and therefore not impacted by a decrease in individual donations, the value of our multi-year funding decreased. At the same time, the demand for our support as well as our operational costs increased.

We mitigate this risk by investing in fundraising and communications and by diversifying our funding streams. We regularly report on our financial performance and position to ensure that the financial risks to our organisation over this strategy period are well understood and appropriately managed. We also conduct periodic reviews of staff salaries and salary scales to ensure staff retention and monitor budgets and forecasts on a monthly basis. We also monitor the impact of inflation on our funded partners.

Reserves policy and going concern

We have a reserves policy, which defines the level of funds that should be held to ensure we can continue to operate. The reserves policy identifies and distinguishes between restricted and unrestricted reserves, and the level of unrestricted reserves held is informed by income and expenditure forecasts based on planned activities and analysis of potential risk.

The Board of Trustees has determined that Media Defence requires reserves to be held to ensure, that as a minimum, we can meet any costs of closing the organisation whilst remaining operational for a period of six months, to be able to ethically exit existing agreements, cases and partnerships.

The Board of Trustees set the reserves target at £365,175 for 2022 (based on the increased headcount planned for 2023). This target is reviewed at least annually to ensure it remains relevant to the realities of current operations and the associated risks.

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Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Any unrestricted reserves held above the required amount necessary for meeting costs associated with closure, may be used:

Media Defence will not accumulate a level of reserve funding that is greater than that which it judges necessary to provide financial security.

Trustees have made an assessment of the impact of the risks on the charity’s operations and have concluded that, despite the wider risks and uncertainties facing large sectors of society, Media Defence has the ability and intention to continue as a going concern. The reasons for this affirmation are:

Plans for the Future

As outlined above, our 2020-2024 strategy is aimed at magnifying our impact by increasing and deepening the support we offer to our partners. This support will enhance the availability of quality legal defence for journalists around the world and the coordination of strategic litigation on press freedom and freedom of expression. We will also continue to provide emergency legal defence to journalists and media organisations around the world in countries where we do not yet have partners and where we are the only realistic avenue to provide the assistance required. We will continue to pursue high-impact strategic litigation to win landmark cases, clarifying or changing laws, bringing them in line with international standards on freedom of expression.

The pandemic has accelerated the decline in media freedom around the world. Credible, independent news became more important than ever while pressure on media outlets increased. This demand for our support has grown at a faster pace than we envisaged in our 2020 – 2024 strategy. The amount of cases we took on in 2022 exceeded the level of support we planned to provide by end of 2024. We therefore continue to increase and diversify our income to keep up with the pace of the growing demand for support. Our ability to meet the demand will depend on the availability of funds.

Worldwide inflationary pressures have made it more difficult to secure the income we need to deliver on our strategic priorities. We continue to remedy this by seeking to diversify our income on the one hand and prudent expenditure and regular reforecasting on the other hand.

Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine there is overriding uncertainty about our ability to deliver support in both Ukraine and Russia. For instance, court closures in Ukraine will result in delays to ongoing proceedings and fewer opportunities for strategic litigation. The crackdown on independent media and human rights defenders in Russia has intensified, which impacts our ability to deliver support. As Russia ceased to be party to the European Convention on Human Rights on 16 September 2022, we are no longer able to take cases relating to violations of human rights committed by Russia after this date to the ECtHR. We will continue to monitor the situation and deliver support where possible.

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Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Structure, Governance And Management

Media Legal Defence Initiative, trading as Media Defence, is a company limited by guarantee, incorporated 16 June 2008, as amended 19 November 2012, and was registered as a charity on 24 March 2009. The company is governed under its Articles of Association, which sets out its objects and powers. Media Legal Defence Initiative is an independent and autonomous UK charity.

Media Defence is governed by a Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees is currently composed of 12 members. The trustees set the strategic aims and directions for the organisation. They also approve grants made by the charity for amounts over £15,000. The chair of the Board approves grants of amounts between £5,000 and £15,000, on the recommendation of senior staff. Media Defence’s London-based staff carry out day-to-day operations. This includes decisions on financial support for the defence of individual journalists up to a maximum of £5,000. The trustees of Media Defence meet once every three months and receive detailed reports to retain effective control over the organisation and to monitor the work of the CEO and team.

The Board held three advisory committees which also met at least quarterly to support it in its oversight role:

Media Defence determines its resource requirements in a thorough financial planning process, which comprises an annual review and approval of detailed plans and budget, and a mid-year review, in addition to quarterly forecasting. The trustees empower the chair to monitor, control and ensure delivery of the plans within the resources available.

All trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity. Any expenses reclaimed from the charity are set out in note 6 to the accounts.

Appointment of trustees

Under Media Defence’s Articles of Association, the first directors of the company became its first trustees when the charity was registered on 24 March 2009. Additional trustees are selected and appointed by the board.

Trustees are appointed for a three-year term under the Articles of Association and can serve a maximum of two consecutive terms. They are then eligible for re-appointment following at least a one-year absence from the position.

Trustee induction and training

Trustees are familiar with either the fields of charity finance/management, law, human rights and/or journalism and undergo an induction on their role and responsibilities as well as the work of the Media Defence. On appointment, trustees are provided with the Articles of Association of Media Defence, a Trustee Handbook and a copy of the Charity Commission’s guidance on the role and responsibilities of trustees.

Trustees have a responsibility to attend appropriate training in order for them to perform their legal duties. The trustees are offered training opportunities throughout the year.

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Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Remuneration policy for key management personnel

The trustees have specific responsibility for remuneration matters. They make final recommendations on annual increases to the salary budget through the budget setting process for the forthcoming financial year.

The trustees make decisions on starting salaries for a new CEO. The CEO makes decisions on starting salaries for new staff based on job function and market conditions prevailing in the location of the job (London) and the Media Defence Job Evaluation Framework and Salary Scale. The CEO makes decisions on performance related increases for existing staff subject to approval of the budget by the Board. The Job Evaluation Framework and Salary Scale is periodically reviewed, including on the basis of external market benchmarking.

Employee information

Media Defence’s staff is integral to the meaningful work that we do and the delivery of our charitable objects. The staff is led by the CEO and comprises legal, finance, monitoring and evaluation, fundraising, communication and grant making specialists. Media Defence provides its staff with training to ensure skills are kept up to date and has in place a range of mechanisms to ensure smooth operational functioning.

In response to staff turnover during 2022, we welcomed a new Finance and Operations Director, Finance Manager and Grants Officer in 2022 and a Legal Officer in 2023. We created three new roles to strengthen the staff team and welcomed a Project Assistant, Communications Assistant and Network Coordinator during the year as well. In November 2022, Alinda Vermeer resigned as CEO, departing the organisation on 28 February 2023. She was succeeded by Carlos Gaio per 1 March 2023.

Statement of responsibilities of the trustees

The trustees (who are also directors of Media Defence for the purpose of company law) are responsible for preparing the trustees’ annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the trustees are aware:

19

Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Members of the charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees at 31 December 2022 was 12 (2021: 9). The trustees are members of the charity but this entitles them only to voting rights. The trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity

Auditor

Sayer Vincent LLP was re-appointed as the charitable company’s auditor during the year and has expressed its willingness to continue in that capacity.

The directors’ annual report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies’ regime.

The trustees’ annual report has been approved by the trustees on 17 May 2023 and signed on their behalf by

Sarah Bull Chair of the Board of Trustees

20

Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Independent auditor’s report to the members of Media Legal Defence Initiative

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Media Legal Defence Initiative (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 December 2022 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet, statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on Media Legal Defence Initiative’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other Information

The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears

21

Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ annual report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of trustees’ responsibilities set out in the trustees’ annual report, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are set out below.

22

Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and noncompliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following:

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Jonathan Orchard (Senior statutory auditor)

for and on behalf of

Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditor

Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane, LONDON, EC1Y 0TL

23

Media Legal Defence Initiative

Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

S Statement tatem ent o of f f financial inancial a activities ctivities (incorporating an income and expenditure account)

F ~~For~~ or t ~~the~~ he y ~~year~~ ear e ~~ended~~ nded 3 ~~31~~ 1 D ~~December~~ ecem ber 2 ~~2022~~ 0 2 2

2
0
2
2
2022		 2
0
2
2
2022		 2021
Unrestricted Restricted T otal T otal Unrestricted Restricted Total
Note £ £ £
£		 £ £ £
I
n
c
o
m
e
f
r
o
m
:
Income from:
Donations and legacies 2 1,298,581 1,241,661 2
,
5
4
0
,
2
4
2
2,540,242		 742,640 1,345,224 2,087,864
Unrealised gains on foreign currency
Investments		 Unrealised gains on foreign currency 43 - 4
3
43		 468 - 468
revaluation 98,216 - 98,216 - - -
Other 3,547 - 3,547 4,325 - 4,325
T
o
t
a
l
i
n
c
o
m
e
Total income		 1,400,387 1,241,661 2
,
6
4
2
,
0
4
8
2,642,048		 747,433 1,345,224 2,092,657
E
x
p
e
n
d
i
t
u
r
e
o
n
:
Expenditure on:
Raising funds 3 100,529 149 1
0
0
,
6
7
8
100,678		 121,853 - 121,853
Charitable activities
Support to Individuals for Legal Defence Support to Individuals for Legal Defence 3 325,523 238,514 5
6
4
,
0
3
7
564,037		 228,584 259,862 488,446
Support to NGOs for Legal Justice 3 154,957 363,163 5
1
8
,
1
2
0
518,120		 147,499 369,186 516,684
Support for training & capacity building Support for training & capacity building 3 145,489 192,102 3
3
7
,
5
9
1
337,591		 126,145 139,874 266,020
Strategic Litigation 3 167,678 601,838 7
6
9
,
5
1
6
769,516		 136,438 462,434 598,872
T
o
t
a
l
e
x
p
e
n
d
i
t
u
r
e
Total expenditure		 894,176 1,395,766 2
,
2
8
9
,
9
4
2
2,289,942		 760,519 1,231,357 1,991,876
N
e
t
i
n
c
o
m
e
/
(
e
x
p
e
n
d
i
t
u
r
e
)
f
Net income / (expenditure)		 f
o
r
t
for		 t
h
e
y
the		 y
e
a
r
year		 5 506,211 (154,105) 3
5
2
,
1
0
6
352,106		 (13,086) 113,867 100,781
Transfers between funds 15,879 (15,879) ~~-~~ - - -
N
e
t
m
o
v
e
m
e
n
t
i
n
f
u
n
d
s
Net movement in funds		 522,090 (169,984) 3
5
2
,
1
0
6
352,106		 (13,086) 113,867 100,781
R
e
c
o
n
c
i
l
i
a
t
i
o
n
o
f
f
u
n
d
s
:
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward 600,983 339,339 9
4
0
,
3
2
2
940,322		 614,068 225,472 839,541
T
o
t
a
l
f
u
n
d
s
c
a
r
r
i
e
d
f
o
r
w
a
r
d
Totalfundscarriedforward		 1,123,073 169,355 1
,
2
9
2
,
4
2
8
1,292,428		 600,983 339,339 940,322

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in Note 16 to the financial statements.

24

Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

M Media edia L Legal egal D Defence efence I Initiative nitiative ( (Trading T rading a as s M Media edia D Defence) efence)

B Balance alance s sheet heet

----- Start of picture text -----
|||||||||||||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Company no. 06621203| |A|As|s|a|at|t 3|31|1|D|December|ecem|ber 2|2022|0|2|2| |2022| |2021| |Note|£|£|£|£|£| |F|Fixed|ix|ed a|assets:|s|s|ets|:| |Tangible fixed assets|10|4|a|5,340| |C|Current|urrent a|assets:|s|s|ets|:| |Debtors|11|63,034|48,558| |Cash at bank and in hand|18|1,778,089|1,547,900| |1,841,123|1,596,458| |L|Liabilities:|iabilities|:| |Creditors: amounts falling due within one year|12|558,136|661,476| |N|Net|et c|current|urrent a|assets|s|s|ets|,282,987|934,982| |Total|T|otal n|net|et a|assets|s|s|ets|15|1|1,292,428|,|2|9|2|,|4|2|8|940,322| |The|T|he f|funds|unds|o|of|f t|the|he c|charity:|harity:| |Restricted income funds|16.i|1|169,355|6|9|,|3|5|5|339,339| |Unrestricted income funds:|16.ii| |Designated funds|365,175|357,500| |General funds|757,898|243,483| |Total unrestricted funds|1,123,073|600,983| |T|otal charittal charital charitl charit charit|funds|940,322-|

----- End of picture text -----

Total T otal charittal charital charitl charit charit charity haritaritrititty funds funds undsndsdss

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

Approved by the trustees on 17th May 2023 and signed on their behalf by Sarah Bull

SARAH BULL

Chair of the Board of Trustees

25

Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

M Media edia L Legal egal D Defence efence I Initiative nitiative ( (Trading T rading a as s M Media edia D Defence) efence)

S Statement tatem ent o of f c cash as h f flows lows

F ~~For~~ or t ~~the~~ he y ~~year~~ ear e ~~ended~~ nded 3 ~~31~~ 1 D ~~December~~ ecem ber 2 ~~2022~~ 0 2 2

Note 2
0
2
2
2022		 2021
£
£		 £
£		 £ £
C
a
s
h
f
l
o
w
s
f
r
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m
o
p
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r
a
t
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g
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c
t
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Cash flows from operating activities		 17
N
e
t
c
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s
h
p
r
o
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e
d
b
y
o
p
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Net cash provided by operating activities		 2
3
7
,
8
6
7
237,867		 507,412
C
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f
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o
w
s
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s
:
Cash flows from investing activities:
Dividends, interest and rents from investments 4 3 468
Purchase of fixed assets (7,721 ) (1,914)
Loss on disposal 1,830
N
e
t
c
a
s
h
(
u
s
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d
i
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Net cash (used in)/provided by investing		 a
c
t
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i
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activities		 (
7
,
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7
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)
(7,678)		 384
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Change in cash and cash equivalents in the		 y
e
a
r
year		 2
3
0
,
1
8
9
230,189		 5 0 7 , 7 9 6
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 1
,
5
4
7
,
9
0
0
1,547,900		 1 , 0 4 0 , 1 0 4
C
a
s
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Cashandcashequivalentsattheendofthe		 y
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year		 18 1
,
7
7
8
,
0
8
9
1,778,089		 1 , 5 4 7 , 9 0 0

26

Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Media Legal Defence Initiative (T rading as Media Defence)

Notes to the financial s tatem ents

For the year ended 3 1 Decem ber 2 0 2 2

1 Accounting policies

a) Statutory inform ation

Media Legal Defence Initiative is a charitable company limited by guarantee and is incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office address is 5 Chancery Lane, London. WC2A 1LG

b) Bas is of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (Charities SORP FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note.

c) Public benefit entity

d) Going concern

The trustees’ report contains information on the risks of cyber security and IT failure, worldwide inflationary pressures and the loss of donor funding. The Trustees have concluded that, despite these risks and the wider risks and uncertainties facing large sectors of society, the charity has taken the relevant measures to mitigate the impact of these risks and uncertainties on its operations.

The Trustees are confident that the charity has the ability and intention to continue as a going concern because adequate resources are available.

The trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period.

e) Incom e

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and that the amount can be measured reliably.

Income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.

Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met.

27

Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Media Legal Defence Initiative (T rading as Media Defence)

Notes to the financial s tatem ents

For the year ended 3 1 Decem ber 2 0 2 2

Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item or received the service, any conditions associated with the donation have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), volunteer time is not recognised so refer to the trustees’ annual report for more information about their contribution.

On receipt, donated gifts, professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.

g) Fund accounting Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund.

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charitable purposes.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular purposes.

h) Ex penditure and irrecoverable V AT

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

i) Allocation of s upport cos ts

Resources expended are allocated to the particular activity where the cost relates directly to that activity. However, the cost of overall direction and administration of each activity, comprising the salary and overhead costs of the central function, is apportioned on the following basis which are an estimate, based on staff time, of the amount attributable to each activity.

amount attributable to each activity.
Support to Individuals for Legal Defence 36%
Support to NGOs for Legal Justice 25%
Strategic Litigation 25%
Support for Training & Capacity Building 14%

Where information about the aims, objectives and projects of the charity is provided to potential beneficiaries, the costs associated with this publicity are allocated to charitable expenditure.

j) O perating leas es

Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease.

28

Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Media Legal Defence Initiative (T rading as Media Defence)

Notes to the financial s tatem ents

For the year ended 3 1 Decem ber 2 0 2 2

1 Accounting policies (continued)

k ) T angible fix ed as s ets

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £1,000. Depreciation costs are allocated to activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities. Assets are reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying value may exceed their net realisable value and value in use.

Where fixed assets have been revalued, any excess between the revalued amount and the historic cost of the asset will be shown as a revaluation reserve in the balance sheet.

Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows:

Computer Equipment 3 years Fittings and Office equipment 4 years

l) Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

m ) C as h at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account. Cash balances exclude any funds held on behalf of service users.

n) C reditors and provis ions

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

o) Pens ions

Media Defence will match pension contribution for individuals from 5% up to 8% of employees' qualifying earnings.

p) Foreign currency trans lations

Monetary assets and liabilities in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at the rates of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date. Transactions in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at the actual rate of exchange. Exchange differences are taken into account in arriving at the net incoming resources for the year.

29

Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Media Legal Defence Initiative (T rading as Media Defence)

Notes to the financial s tatem ents

For the year ended 3 1 Decem ber 2 0 2 2

n
c
o
m
e
f
r
o
m
d
o
n
a
t
i
o
n
s
a
n
d
l
e
g
a
c
i
e
s
onated services
ifts & Donations		 Unrestricted
£
1,298,581
-		 £
757,934
483,727
1241661
Restricted		 2
0
2
2
T
o
t
a
l
£
2
,
0
5
6
,
5
1
5
4
8
3
,
7
2
7		 2021
Total
£
1,732,836
355,028
1298581 2

5
4
0

2
4
2		 2087864

In 2021 there were unrestricted gifts and donations of £742,640, the balance of donations and legacies were restricted.

Donated services are comprised of pro-bono legal support services and are calculated on the basis of the value of the service to Media Defence.

30

Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

M Media edia L Legal egal D Defence efence I Initiative nitiative ( (Trading T rading a as s M Media edia D Defence) efence) N Notes otes t to o t the he f financial inancial s statements tatem ents

F ~~For~~ or t ~~the~~ he y ~~year~~ ear e ~~ended~~ nded 3 ~~31~~ 1 D ~~December~~ ecem ber 2 ~~2022~~ 0 2 2 3 3a a Analys is of ex penditure Analysis of expenditure

----- Start of picture text -----
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Charitable activities| |Support to|Support for| |Individuals|Support to|training &| |for Legal|NGOs for|capacity|Strategic|Governance|2|2022|0|2|2| |N|Note|ote|Fundraising|Defence|Legal Justice|building|Litigation|costs|Support costs|Total|T|otal|2021 Total| |£|£|£|£|£|£|£|£|£|£| |Staff Costs|6|93,373|231,430|115,715|154,286|115,715|38,572|115,715|8|864,806|6|4|,|8|0|6|735,166| |Other Staff Costs|-|9,114|4,558|6,077|4,558|1,519|4,558|3|30,384|0|,|3|8|4|18,875| |Grants payable|4a|210,857|320,022|-|565,335|-|-|1|1,096,214|,|0|9|6|,|2|1|4|1,006,440| |Translation services|-|-|-|-|5,067|-|-|5,067|5|,|0|6|7|15,005| |Fundraising costs|7,305-|2,029|-|-|-|-|-|7|,|3|0|5|1,103| |Volunteers' expenses|-|-|1,014|1,352|1,014|338|1,014|6,761|6|,|7|6|1|-| |Travel and subsistence|-|-|-|-|1,016|-|5,981|6,997|6|,|9|9|7|1,160| |Meetings and events|-|-|-|95,775|-|-|-|9|95,775|5|,|7|7|5|27,188| |Marketing and promotion|-|-|-|-|-|-|6,290 -|6,290|6|,|2|9|0|2,751| |Monitoring, Evaluation & Research|-|-|-|37,088|-|-|44,407|3|37,088|7|,|0|8|8|5,280| |PremisesDepreciation|--|[-]|-|--|--|--|--|-|3,620|44,407|4|3,620|43|,,|46|02|70|62,1152,020| |Office costs|-|-|-|-|-|-|65,998|6|65,998|5|,|9|9|8|70,564| |Bank Charges & Exchange| |losses|-|-|-|-|-|-|2,326|2,326|2|,|3|2|6|15,917| |Board expenses|-|-|-|-|-|3,259|-|3,259|3|,|2|5|9|4,814| |Audit and accountancy|-|-|-|-|-|10,512|-|1|10,512|0|,|5|1|2|8,760| |Legal and professional|-|-|-|-|-|-|3,133|3,133|3|,|1|3|3|14,718| |Sub|t|otal|100,678|453,430|441,309|294,578|692,705|54,200|253,042|2|2,289,942|,|2|8|9|,|9|4|2|1,991,876| |Support costs|-|91,095|63,261|35,425|63,261|-|(253,042)|-|-| |Governance costs|-|19,512|13,550|7,588|13,550|(54,200)|-|-|-| |Total|T otal ex penditure 2 0 2 2|expenditure|2022|1 0 0 , 6 7 8|5|564,037|6|4|,|0|3|7|518,120|3|337,591|3|7|,|5|9|1|7|769,516|6|9|,|5|1|6|-|-|2|2,289,942|,|2|8|9|,|9|4|2| |Total expenditure 2021|121,853|488,446|516,684|266,020|598,872|-|-|1,991,876|

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31

Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

M Media edia L Legal egal D Defence efence I Initiative nitiative ( (Trading T rading a as s M Media edia D Defence) efence) N Notes otes t to o t the he f financial inancial s statements tatem ents

F ~~For~~ or t ~~the~~ he y ~~year~~ ear e ~~ended~~ nded 3 ~~31~~ 1 D ~~December~~ ecem ber 2 ~~2022~~ 0 2 2

3 3b b Analysis Analys is o of f e expenditure x penditure ( (prior prior y year) ear)

----- Start of picture text -----
||||||||||||||||||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Charitable activities| |Support to|Support for| |Individuals|Support to|training &| |for Legal|NGOs for|capacity|Strategic|Governance|2|2021|0|2|1| |N|Note|ote|Fundraising|Fundraising|Defence|Legal Justice|building|Litigation|costs|Support costs|Total|T|otal| |£|£|£|£|£|£|£|£|£| |Staff Costs|6|120,750|184,325|184,325|92,162|122,883|92,162|30,721|92,162|7|735,166|3|5|,|1|6|6| |Other Staff Costs|-|-|5,663|5,663|2,831|3,775|2,831|944|2,831|1|18,875|8|,|8|7|5| |Grants payable|4a|-|-|186,936|186,936|344,439|66,006|409,059|-|-|1|1,006,440|,|0|0|6|,|4|4|0| |Translation services|-|-|-|-|-|15,005|-|-|1|15,005|5|,|0|0|5| |Fundraising costs|1,103|-|-|-|-|-|-|1|1,103|,|1|0|3| |Volunteers' expenses|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| |Travel and subsistence|-|-|-|-|120|-|1,040|1,040|1|1,160|,|1|6|0| |Meetings and events|-|-|-|24,798|2,390|-|-|2|27,188|7|,|1|8|8| |Marketing and promotion|-|-|-|-|-|-|2,751|2|2,751|,|7|5|1| |Monitoring, Evaluation & Research|-|-|-|5,280|-|-|-|5|5,280|,|2|8|0| |Premises|-|-|-|-|-|-|62,115|6|62,115|2|,|1|1|5| |Depreciation|-|-|-|-|-|-|2,020|2|2,020|,|0|2|0| |Office costs|-|-|-|-|-|-|70,564|7|70,564|0|,|5|6|4| |Bank Charges & Exchange| |losses|-|468|130|90|182|-|15,047|1|15,917|5|,|9|1|7| |Board expenses|-|-|-|-|-|4814|-|4,814|4|,|8|1|4| |Audit and accountancy|-|-|-|-|-|8,760|-|8|8,760|,|7|6|0| |Legal and professional|-|-|-|-|-|-|14,718|1|14,718|4|,|7|1|8| |S|Sub|ub|-|-|total|total|121,853|377,391|439,563|222,832|521,751|45,239|263,248|1|1,991,876|,|9|9|1|,|8|7|6| |Support costs|-|94,769|94,769|65,812|36,855|65,812|-|(263,248)|-| |Governance costs|-|16,286|16,286|11,310|6,333|11,310|(45,239)|-|-| |Total|T|otal e|expenditure|x|penditure 2|2021|0|2|1|1|121,853|2|1|,|8|5|3|4 8 8 , 4 4 6|5 1 6 , 6 8 4|2 6 6 , 0 2 0|5 9 8 , 8 7 2|-|-|-|1 , 9 9 1 , 8 7 6|

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32

Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

M Media edia L Legal egal D Defence efence I Initiative nitiative ( (Trading T rading a as s M Media edia D Defence) efence)

N Notes otes t to o t the he f financial inancial s statements tatem ents

F ~~For~~ or t ~~the~~ he y ~~year~~ ear e ~~ended~~ nded 3 ~~31~~ 1 D ~~December~~ ecem ber 2 ~~2022~~ 0 2 2

Grant mak ing
Grant making
Grants to Grants to Support costs
institutions individuals 2
0
2
2
2022		 2021
£ £ £ £
£		 £
C os t
Cost
Support to Individuals for Legal Defence - 210,857 91,095 3
0
1
,
9
5
2
301,952		 281,705
Support to NGOs for Legal Justice 320,022 - 63,261 3
8
3
,
2
8
3
383,283		 410,251
Support for Training & Capacity Building - - 35,425 3
5
,
4
2
5
35,425		 102,860
Strategic Litigation 483,727 81,608 63,261 6
2
8
,
5
9
6
628,596		 474,871
At the end of the year 803,749 292,465 253,042 1
,
3
4
9
,
2
5
6
1,349,256		 1,269,687
Grant mak ing prior year
Grant making prior year
Grants to Grants to Grants to Support costs
institutions individuals 2
0
2
1
2021		 2020
£ £ £ £
£		 £
C os t
Cost
Support to Individuals for Legal Defence - 86,936 94,769 2
8
1
,
7
0
5
281,705		 413,871
Support to NGOs for Legal Justice 344,439 - - 65,812 4
1
0
,
2
5
1
410,251		 321,993
Support for Training & Capacity Building - 66,005 36,855 1
0
2
,
8
6
0
102,860		 46,945
Strategic Litigation 355,028 54,031 65,812 4
7
4
,
8
7
1
474,871		 1,299,092
At the end of the year 699,467 306,973 263,248 1 , 2 6 9 , 6 8 7 2,081,900

Grants are provided to individuals and institutions from Media Defence based on the charitable objectives of the organisation and with consideration for affordability.

Media Defence has a listing of the partner organisations with which it works on its website. Media Defence does not provide the detail of the amounts given to individual institutions as it believes these could prejudice the furtherance of the charitable objectives of Media Defence and the recipient.

5 5 N Net et i income ncom e f for or t the he y year ear

This is stated after charging

This is stated after charging
2
0
2
2
2022		 2021
£
£		 £
Depreciation 3
,
6
2
0
3,620		 2,020
Operating lease rentals:
Property and Equipment 4
3
,
3
9
0
43,390		 54,576
Auditors' remuneration (excluding VAT):
Audit 8
,
1
9
5
8,195		 7,300
Foreign exchange (gains) / losses (
9
5
,
8
9
0
)
(95,890)		 15,917

6 6 A Analysis nalys is o of f s staff taff c costs, os ts , t trustee rus tee r remuneration em uneration a and nd e expenses, x pens es , a and nd t the he c cost os t o of f k key ey m management anagem ent p personnel ers onnel

Staff costs were as follows:

Staff costs were as follows:
2
0
2
2
2022		 2021
£
£		 £
Salaries and wages 7
4
6
,
0
7
9
746,079		 642,088
Social security costs 9
6
,
2
2
0
96,220		 72,156
Employer’s contribution to defined contribution pension schemes 2
2
,
5
0
7
22,507		 20,922
8
6
4
,
8
0
6
864,806		 735,166

33

Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

M Media edia L Legal egal D Defence efence I Initiative nitiative ( (Trading T rading a as s M Media edia D Defence) efence)

N Notes otes t to o t the he f financial inancial s statements tatem ents

F ~~For~~ or t ~~the~~ he y ~~year~~ ear e ~~ended~~ nded 3 ~~31~~ 1 D ~~December~~ ecem ber 2 ~~2022~~ 0 2 2

The following number of employees received employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs and employer's national insurance) during the year between:

2
0
2
2
2022		 2021
N
o
.
No.		 No.
£60,000 - £69,999 £60,000 - £69,999 - 3
£70,000 - £79,999 £70,000 - £79,999 2 1
£80,000 - £89,999 £80,000 - £89,999 1 -

The total employee benefits (including pension contributions and employer's national insurance) of the key management personnel were £89,626 (2021: £82,206).

The charity trustees were neither paid nor received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2021: £nil). No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2021: £nil).

Trustees' expenses/development was £5,233 (2021: £nil).

7 7 Staff numbers Staff numbers

8 8 Related party trans actions Related party transactions

In 2022, Media Defence appointed a new Board Member. This individual is the founder of an organisation that is a recipient of Media Defence's Support for NGOs. In 2022, further support to this organisation was approved by the Board of Trustees.

In 2022, there was some pro bono support provided by the law firm of one of our trustees, Steve Finizio, who is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP (2022:£467k; 2021:£35K).

One of our Trustees, Catherine Anite, serves on the Board of Directors at the International Centre for Not-For-Profit Law (INCL). INCL gave grants worth £91k to Media Defence in 2022 (2021: £69k).

The charitable company is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.

1 10 0 Tangible T angible fix ed as s ets fixed assets

Fittings and
Office Computer
equipment equipment T
o
t
a
l
Total
£ £ £
£
C
o
s
t
o
r
v
a
l
u
a
t
i
o
n
Cost or valuation
At the start of the year 8,900 6,077 1
4
,
9
7
7
14,977
Additions in year - 7,721 7
,
7
2
1
7,721
Disposals in year - ~~-~~
At the end of the year 8,900 13,798 2
2
,
6
9
8
22,698
D
e
p
r
e
c
i
a
t
i
o
n
Depreciation
At the start of the year 4,599 5,038 9
,
6
3
7
9,637
Charge for the year 1,681 1,939 3
,
6
2
0
3,620
Eliminated on disposal - - ~~-~~
At the end of the year 6,280 6,977 1
3
,
2
5
7
13,257
N
e
t
b
o
o
k
v
a
l
u
e
Net book value
A
t
t
h
e
e
n
d
o
f
t
h
e
y
At the end of the		 y
e
a
r
year		 2,620 6,821 9
,
4
4
1
9,441
At the start of the year 4,300 1,039 5,340

All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes.

34

Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Media Legal Defence Initiative (T rading as Media Defence)

N otes to the financial s tatem ents

For the year ended 3 1 Decem ber 2 0 2 2

----- Start of picture text -----
1 1 Debtors
2 0 2 2 2021
£ £
Grants Receivable - 5,187
Other Debtors 4 2 , 5 0 7 16,300
Prepayments 2 0 , 5 2 7 27,072
6 3 , 0 3 4 48,558
1 2 C reditors : am ounts falling due within one year
2 0 2 2 2021
£ £
Trade Creditors 2 3 , 0 4 2 32,860
Other Creditors 1 1 , 9 8 1 20,458
Grants Payable 5 0 8 , 8 5 5 411,622
Deferred Income - 187,744
Accruals 1 4 , 2 5 8 8,791
5 5 8 , 1 3 6 661,476
1 3 Deferred incom e
There was no deferred income for 2023 activities received in 2022.
2 0 2 2 2021
£ £
Balance at the beginning of the year 1 8 7 , 7 4 4 65,520
Amount released to income in the year (1 8 7 , 7 4 4 ) (65,520)
Amount deferred in the year 187,744
Balance at the end of the year - 187,744
----- End of picture text -----

1 4 Pens ion s chem e

MLDI matches Employee’s Pension contributions from 5% and up to 8% of qualifying earnings.

----- Start of picture text -----
1 5 a Analys is of net as s ets between funds (current year)
General
unrestricted Designated Restricted T otal funds
£ £ £ £
Tangible fixed assets 9,441 - - 9 , 4 4 1
Net current assets 748,457 365,175 169,355 1 , 2 8 2 , 9 8 7
N et as s ets at the end of the year 7 5 7 , 8 9 8 3 6 5 , 1 7 5 1 6 9 , 3 5 5 1 , 2 9 2 , 4 2 8
1 5 b Analys is of net as s ets between funds (prior year)
General
unrestricted Designated Restricted T otal funds
£ £ £ £
Tangible fixed assets 5,340 - - 5 , 3 4 0
Net current assets 238,143 357,500 339,339 9 3 4 , 9 8 2
N et as s ets at the end of the year 2 4 3 , 4 8 3 3 5 7 , 5 0 0 3 3 9 , 3 3 9 9 4 0 , 3 2 2
----- End of picture text -----

35

Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

M Media edia L Legal egal D Defence efence I Initiative nitiative ( (Trading T rading a as s M Media edia D Defence) efence)

N Notes otes t to o t the he f financial inancial s statements tatem ents

F ~~For~~ or t ~~the~~ he y ~~year~~ ear e ~~ended~~ nded 3 ~~31~~ 1 D ~~December~~ ecem ber 2 ~~2022~~ 0 2 2

1 16a 6 a M Movements ovem ents i in n f funds unds ( (current current y year) ear)

----- Start of picture text -----
||||||||||||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |At the start|Income &|Expenditure &|At|At t|the|he e|end|nd o|of|f| |of the year|gains|losses|Transfers|the|the y|year|ear| |£|£|£|£|£|£| |1|16.i|6|.|i|R|Restricted|es|tricted f|funds:|unds|:| |Adessium|42,032|86,222|(70,602)|-|5|57,652|7|,|6|5|2| |Donated Services|-|483,727|(483,727)|-|-| |Dow Jones|-|7,356|(7,356)|-|-| |DRL EWDRA|14,850|156,729|(207,372)|(642)|(|(36,435)|3|6|,|4|3|5|)| |Evan Cornish Foundation|-|5,000|(3,000)|-|2|2,000|,|0|0|0| |Ford Foundation|133,200|233,407|(253,881)|-|1|112,726|1|2|,|7|2|6| |Hivos 2022|-|85,093|(85,093)|-|-| |ICNL (CAIP)|32,389|90,842|(81,750)|(8,172)|3|33,309|3|,|3|0|9| |IWPR (DFID)|4,589|-|(3,357)|(1,232)|-| |KAS LATAM|8,527|8,485|(16,527)|(485)|-| |Limelight Foundation|-|83,557|(77,359)|-|6,198|6|,|1|9|8| |Matrix Causes|1,250|-|-|(1,250)|-| |National Endowment for Democracy (NED)|66,253|(16,809)|(71,022)|-|(|(21,578)|2|1|,|5|7|8|)| |Other - Rtd/cncld Grants|10,362|-|473|1,101|11,936|11,936| |Thomson Reuters Foundation|-|-|(1,272)|1,272|-| |UNESCO|116|26,897|(23,466)|-3|3,547| |USSD DRL|25,771|(8,845)|(10,455)|(6,471)|-| |Total|T|otal r|restricted|es|tricted f|funds|unds|339,339|1,241,661|(1,395,766)|(15,879)|1|169,355|6|9|,|3|5|5| |1|16.ii|6|.|ii|U|Unrestricted|nres|tricted f|funds:|unds|:| |Designated funds|357,500|-|-|7,675|3|365,175|6|5|,|1|7|5| |General funds|243,483|1,400,387|(894,176)|8,204|7|757,898|5|7|,|8|9|8| |Total|T|otal u|unrestricted|nres|tricted f|funds|unds|6 0 0 , 9 8 3|1 , 4 0 0 , 3 8 7|(8 9 4 , 1 7 6 )|1 5 , 8 7 9|1 , 1 2 3 , 0 7 3| |Total|T|otal f|funds|unds|9 4 0 , 3 2 2|2 , 6 4 2 , 0 4 8|(2 , 2 8 9 , 9 4 2 )|1 , 2 9 2 , 4 2 8|

----- End of picture text -----

There was a £7,625 increase in designated funds in the year.

The movement between restricted and unrestricted funds represents management fees earnt on restricted funds in 2022.

36

Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

M Media edia L Legal egal D Defence efence I Initiative nitiative ( (Trading T rading a as s M Media edia D Defence) efence)

N Notes otes t to o t the he f financial inancial s statements tatem ents

F ~~For~~ or t ~~the~~ he y ~~year~~ ear e ~~ended~~ nded 3 ~~31~~ 1 D ~~December~~ ecem ber 2 ~~2022~~ 0 2 2

1 16b 6 b M Movements ovem ents i in n f funds unds ( (prior prior y year) ear)

----- Start of picture text -----
|||||||||||||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |At the start|Income &|Expenditure &|At|At t|the|he e|end|nd o|of|f| |of the year|gains|losses|Transfers|the|the y|year|ear| |£|£|£|£|£|£| |1|16.)|6|.|i|R|Restricted|es|tricted f|funds:|unds|:| |Adessium|59,141|42,460|(59,569)|-|-|42,032|4|2|,|0|3|2| |Donated Services|-|-|355,028|(355,028)|-|-| |Dow Jones|-|7,208|(7,208)|-|-| |DRL EWDRA|-|17,555|(2,704)|-|-|1|14,850|4|,|8|5|0| |Ethiopia Fund|706|-|(706)|-|-| |FB - Factcheckers Legal Support Initiative|34,698|-|(34,698)|-|-| |Ford Foundation|47,852|203,998|(118,650)|-|-|1|133,200|3|3|,|2|0|0| |Hivos 2021|-|77,043|(77,043)|-|-| |ICNL (CAIP)|-|68,672|(36,284)|-|-|3|32,389|2|,|3|8|9| |IWPR (DFID)|1,167|5,924|(2,502)|.|-|4,589|4|,|5|8|9| |KAS LATAM|-|8,527|-|-|-|8,527|8|,|5|2|7| |Matrix Causes|-|1,250|-|-|-|1|1,250|,|2|5|0| |National Endowment for Democracy (NED)|57,010|108,457|(99,212)|-|-|66,254|6|6|,|2|5|4| |Nicolas Puech Foundation|-|49,123|(49,123)|-|-| |Omidyar (Geographies)|21|49,780|(49,801)|-|-| |OSF (Non - US) BAN (17 - 18)|16,126|--|(16,126)|-|-| |OSI (CB) 2021|-|129,647|(129,647)|-|-| |Other - Rtd/cncld Grants|8,751|-|1,611|.|-|1|10,362|0|,|3|6|2| |UNESCO|-|25,157|(25,041)|-|-|1|116|1|6| |USSD DRL|-|195,397|(169,626)|.|-|2|25,771|5|,|7|7|1| |Total|T|otal r|restricted|es|tricted f|funds|unds|225,471|1,345,224|(1,231,357)|-|-|3|339,339|3|9|,|3|3|9| |1|16.ii|6|.|ii|U|Unrestricted|nres|tricted f|funds:|unds|:| |Designated funds|350,000|-|-|7,500|3|357,500|5|7|,|5|0|0| |General funds|264,069|747,438|(760,519)|(7,500)|2|243,488|4|3|,|4|8|8| |Total|T|otal u|unrestricted|nres|tricted f|funds|unds|6 1 4 , 0 6 9|7 4 7 , 4 3 8|(7 6 0 , 5 1 9 )|-|-|600,988|6|0|0|,|9|8|8| |Total|T|otal f|funds|unds|839,541|2,092,657|(1,991,876)|-|-|9|940,322|4|0|,|3|2|2|

----- End of picture text -----

1 16.i 6 . i P Purposes urpos es o of f r restricted es tricted f funds unds

Adessium - Support to ensure legal protection of journalists, citizen journalists and media outlets in Europe Donated Services - free legal services provided in support of strategic cases, website design, wellbeing support and capacity building.

Dow Jones - support legal defence to independent media, journalists and bloggers facing criminal charges for their reporting US State Department - develop legal communities to defend, promote and strengthen freedom of expression online. The negative figure under income for USSD DRL includes a repayment of an unspent grants £8,845. The negative balances on DRL EWDRA represents amounts owed by, but not claimed from the donor at the year end.

Evan Cornish Foundation- Legal Defence for Journalists Under Threat

Ford - legal assistance to journalists, bloggers and independent media under oppression

Hivos - legal defence to online media and bloggers

IWPR -to explore the freedom of expression landscape in three countries in the MENA region

KAS - Rule of law factsheets, amicus briefs in Latin America.

Limelight Foundation - Support to ensure legal protection of journalists, citizen journalists and media outlets in Europe

Thomson Reuters Foundation-Building Resilient and Independent Media Ecosystems UNESCO - support for a free and safer environment for journalists

37

Media Legal Defence Initiative Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

M Media edia L Legal egal D Defence efence I Initiative nitiative ( (Trading T rading a as s M Media edia D Defence) efence)

N Notes otes t to o t the he f financial inancial s statements tatem ents

F ~~For~~ or t ~~the~~ he y ~~year~~ ear e ~~ended~~ nded 3 ~~31~~ 1 D ~~December~~ ecem ber 2 ~~2022~~ 0 2 2

General funds - provided by the following funders: Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Open Society Foundations, Luminate and Wellspring. The balance of unrestricted, general funds was unusually high at 31 December 2022 due to the receipt of several, large unrestricted grants at the end of the year. These funds are allocated to activities in 2023, so Media Defence expect this amount to reduce in the coming year.

1 17. 7 Reconciliation of net income to net cas h flow from operating activities Reconciliation of net income to net cash flow from operating activities

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||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |2|2022|0|2|2|2021| |£|£|£| |N|Net|et I|Income|ncom|e f|for|or t|the|he r|reporting|eporting p|period|eriod|3|352,106|5|2|,|1|0|6|100,781| |(|(as|as|p|per|er t|the|he s|statement|tatem|ent o|of|f f|financial|inancial a|activities)|ctivities|)| |Depreciation charges|3,620|3|,|6|2|0|2,020| |Dividends, interest and rent from investments|(|(43)|4|3|)|(468)| |Decrease/(increase) in debtors|(|(14,476)|1|4|,|4|7|6|)|230,076| |Increase / (decrease) in creditors|(|(103,340)|1|0|3|,|3|4|0|)|175,004| |N|Net|et c|cash|as|h p|provided|rovided b|by|y /|/|(|(used|us|ed i|in)|n) o|operating|perating a|activities|ctivities|2|237,867|3|7|,|8|6|7|507,412| |1|18|8|A|Analysis|nalys|is|o|of|f c|cash|as|h a|and|nd c|cash|as|h e|equivalents|quivalents|At|At 3|31|1| |At 1 January|D|December|ecem|ber| |2022|Cash flows|Other changes|2022|2|0|2|2| |£|£|£|£|£| |Cash in hand|1,031,311|301,596|-|-|1|1,332,907|,|3|3|2|,|9|0|7| |Notice deposits (less than three months)|516,589|(71,407)|-|-|445,182|4|4|5|,|1|8|2| |Total|T|otal c|cash|as|h a|and|nd c|cash|as|h e|equivalents|quivalents|1,547,900|230,189|-|-|1 , 7 7 8 , 0 8 -9|1,778,089|

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1 19 9 O Operating perating l lease eas e c commitments om m itm ents

The charity's total future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases is as follows for each of the following periods

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|||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Property| |2|2022|0|2|2|2021| |£|£|£| |Less than one year|49,562|4|9|,|5|6|2|13,392| |One to five years|1|16,521|6|,|5|2|1|-| |66,083|6|6|,|0|8|3|13,392|

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2 20 0 C Capital apital c commitments om m itm ents

At the balance sheet date, the charity had made no capital commitments.

2 21 1 C Contingent ontingent a assets s s ets o or r l liabilities iabilities

There are no contingent assets or liabilities.

2 22 2 L Legal egal s status tatus o of f t the he c charity harity

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding up is limited to £1.

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