Page 319 - Law and the Media
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Law and the Media
for this element of the tort. However, on the facts an injunction was refused because damages
were an adequate remedy for the claimants who had, in effect, ‘sold’ their privacy rights.
In Venables v News Group Newspapers Ltd (2001) the applicants, who had been convicted of
murdering the infant James Bulger, were granted injunctions against the whole world to
prevent the publication of information that might lead to their identification. The court
considered that such relief constituted an ‘extension of the law of confidence’, which was
warranted by the ‘exceptional circumstances’ of the case. In particular, the court was
concerned that as a result of the widespread hatred of the applicants and the many threats to
their lives, the publication of information that might lead to their identification posed a real risk
to their lives.
Most recently, in A v B and C (2001) the court granted an injunction to restrain a tabloid
newspaper from publishing ‘kiss and tell stories’ concerning the adulterous affairs of a
professional footballer. It was a breach of confidence for the women to provide the information
in their possession to the newspaper with a view to its publication in the media. It would be a
breach of confidence for the paper to publish it. The case was, again, dealt with on the basis of
conventional ‘breach of confidence’ principles. Nevertheless, it illustrates an important shift in
favour of the protection of privacy resulting from the HRA. It seems likely that the HRA will,
over the next few years, provide the impetus for the English courts to develop a full tort of
‘invasion of privacy’.
19.5 Other areas of impact on the media
19.5.1 General principles
The HRA has an impact on the media in a number of other ways:
Where the media is subject to regulation by governmental bodies, the HRA will have
a direct ‘vertical’ impact – it will restrict the range of permissible interferences with
freedom of expression by public authorities.
Where the courts seek to control the reporting of proceedings, they are now obliged
to take into account the right to freedom of expression and impose the minimum
restrictions necessary.
Where the media are involved in ‘private law’ disputes with individuals or
organizations, the HRA will have an indirect, ‘horizontal’ impact – for example, the
principles of the law of defamation (see Chapter 1) have already begun to show
significant changes in the light of the HRA.
19.5.2 Freedom of expression
The HRA has given further impetus to the recent recognition of the fundamental importance
of freedom of expression in the common law. It is now clear that restrictions on freedom of
expression in the public interest must be ‘strictly proved’:
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