Spelman injunction lifted

Jonathan Spelman, the 17-year-old rugby international and son of cabinet minister Caroline Spelman, obtained an injunction earlier this month restraining Express Newspapers – specifically, the Daily Star Sunday – from publishing information about him which, it was argued on his behalf, would breach his right to privacy and have a very significant harmful effect on […]

Strasbourg emphasises subsidiarity in freedom of expression rulings

Last week the European Court of Human Rights handed down two important rulings in media privacy cases, Von Hannover v Germany (No. 2) and Axel Springer AG v Germany. These cases, in both of which the Court favoured freedom of expression over privacy, would be interesting in any circumstances. What’s especially striking, though, against the […]

Without Prejudice

David Allen Green returns to Without Prejudice this week, I’m pleased to say, and Dr. Evan Harris is back with us too. Charon QC chairs as always, as we discuss the Leveson inquiry at the end of “Module 1” – what has it achieved and what do we want to come out of it? – […]

Today’s “Twitter joke” appeal hearing

I was live-tweeting today from the High Court hearing of Paul Chambers’s appeal in the “Twitter joke” case – an important case not just because of the way it represents the law’s arguably problematic collision with social media but because of the freedom of expression issues is raises. The hearing was interesting from a purely […]

“Prior protection”: Davies and Campbell are right

Alistair Campbell blogged yesterday about his appearance and evidence to the Leveson inquiry. He had plenty to say, but I won’t repeat it – read the transcript of his evidence, and the statement he provided. What interests me especially is what he writes in that blogpost about the regime of regulation that should replace the […]

A cautionary lesson: the Vicky Haigh and Liz Watson judgments

Sir Nicholas Wall has published his judgments in these cases involving Vicky Haigh, the woman John Hemming named in Parliament as a potential “secret prisoner” back in April after she spoke at a public meeting about the court case involving her child, and Elizabeth Watson, the woman who wrote e-mails and articles on the web […]

Why were there no arrests at the Proms?

I was listening to the Proms last night, when the concert was rudely interrupted. As most readers will know, protesters disrupted the concert because the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was playing. I’m attracted by Norman Lebrecht’s view (expressed in response to an earlier, similar outrage at the Wigmore Hall, apparently involving at least one of the […]

Without Prejudice

In this week’s Without Prejudice podcast, Financial Times General Counsel Tim Bratton joins Charon QC, David Allen Green and me to talk about: contempt of court in the week Twitter typed two fingeredly to the courts privacy law, the media, and that footballer whether we have privacy law, a tort of privacy, or what (including […]

Hemming does his worst

As I think readers will surely know by now, John Hemming MP used Parliamentary privilege today to name the footballer whose anonymity is protected in this privacy case by an injunction, which the High Court decided earlier today to maintain in force. Since then, first Sky News and now the BBC have named the footballer […]

Discussing privacy law with Roy Greenslade and Max Clifford

I took part in Sunday Sequence on BBC Radio Ulster yesterday, discussing privacy law with Roy Greenslade, who’s professor of journalism at City University as well as being a former newspaper editor, and Max Clifford. The discussion starts at 34’20”, and lasts for about 20 minutes. I think what Roy Greenslade says about this, both […]