I’ve already criticised what I think is a fundamental contradiction undermining the Court of Appeal’s judgment in the Miranda case. But there’s another aspect of the judgment that I must mention, which may well be of more lasting […]

I’ve been following for some time David Miranda’s challenge to the lawfulness of his questioning at Heathrow airport in 2013. I wrote shortly after his detention; I covered his application for an injunction;

I’ve spent some time looking at the final draft of the Royal Charter – so I want to share my thoughts with you. If you click the bottom left of the viewer, you’ll see in fullscreen view, highlighted, the key […]

Today’s hearing at the High Court before Lord Justice Beatson and Mr Justice Kenneth Parker was interesting, and not just because of the order they made. But let me turn to that order first.

The court has ordered that until a […]

In Monday’s Lords debate about the new press regulation provisions inserted into the Crime and Courts Bill, one line stands out above all. Discussing an amendment about the vicarious liability of publishers, justice minister Lord McNally said (column 876):

the […]

An exchange in last night’s Lords debate on the new press regulation clauses in the Crime and Courts Bill revealed a little-noticed – and no doubt to some, astonishing – aspect of the proposed system: it covers foreign publishers.

Lord […]

In my last post, I said I was worried that the press self-regulation scheme agreed by the main political parties (and to be underpinned by a Royal Charter and two pieces of legislation) would not offer bloggers what it offers […]

Just before Lord Justice Leveson reported in November, I wrote in support of statutory press regulation:

Only legislation can require newspapers to submit even to their own enforcement of their own code …

What statute – and no other arrangement – […]

Last night on the BBC’s Newsnight, Craig Murray, the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, named one of the women whose evidence has led Swedish prosecutors to seek the extradition of Julian Assange.

I agree with those who think this was […]

In Without Prejudice this week Charon QC chairs a free speech special.

Nick Cohen, writer, journalist and author of You Can’t Read This Book joins barrister, policymaker and former Conservative candidate Joanne Cash, David Allen Green […]