Andy Coulson, former award-winning editor of the News of the World, is to face a re-trial over allegations he approved cash bribes to “palace cops” to obtain copies of phone directories for the Royal Family, the Old Bailey heard today. Continue reading
During the eight months of the Phone Hacking Trial there were many interesting and entertaining moments and nuggets of information about the defendants and their newspapers were made public. Emily Penink of the Press Association has gathered twenty six of them into an A-Z of some memorable moments in the hacking trial. Continue reading
The Phone Hacking Trial has finally come to an end, after 8 months, with one guilty verdict (against Andrew Coulson). The jury were unable to agree on two charges (against Andrew Coulson and Clive Goodman). The other five defendants – Rebekah Brooks, Stuart Kuttner, Charlie Brooks, Cheryl Carter and Mark Hanna – we acquitted on all charges. The CPS will announce, later today, whether they will seek a retrial of Messrs Coulson and Goodman on the two outstanding charges. Continue reading
On 18 June 2014 the Supreme Court handed down judgment in R (T) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] UKSC 35. The case concerns the mechanism governing criminal records checks (‘CRCs’) and enhanced criminal record checks (‘ECRCs’), and what an applicant is required to disclose to a potential employer. As such, the case has important ramifications for both employers and job applicants. It is also the latest development in a long running saga concerning criminal record checks and an individual’s ability, and indeed right, to put the past behind them. Continue reading
The news this week has been dominated by the verdicts in the phone hacking trial at the Old Bailey. But there have been three important developments this week in relation to press regulation which have not received much in the way of media coverage. Continue reading
The Court of Justice of the European Union has yet another data protection case on its docket, this time involving the transfer of data by Facebook from the EU to the US. Christopher Kuner Brussels-based Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen and Visiting Fellow in LSE’s Department of Law, explains what is at stake. He argues that, since invalidating the EU’s Data Retention Directive earlier this year, the Court seems increasingly to consider data protection a “super-right” and should not forget the need to balance with freedom of expression.Continue reading
When asked what he thought of western civilisation, the Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi replied that ‘I think it would be a great idea’. The verdicts handed down from the phone hacking trial together with the information contained during the eight months at the Old Bailey suggest pretty much the same thing. We need a free and fearless press because we certainly don’t appear to have one now. Continue reading
This decision by the Israel Supreme Court concerns an appeal by an author against a decision by Judge Kanfi-Steinitz of the Jerusalem District Court that included a permanent injunction prohibiting publication of his book and 200,000 Shekels in statutory damages.
The decision tackles fundamental constitutional issues and is notable for its review of Jewish sources as well as democratic ones. The decision is available here (Civil Appeal 8954/11) as a Word document, in Hebrew.
The first full “uncensored” account of the phone hacking trial by journalist Peter Jukes is to be published within weeks, Canbury Press announced today.Beyond Contempt: The Inside Story of the Hacking Trial will be speedily released in e-book format by the end of July 2014.
Peter Jukes was named Britain’s best social media journalist for his live-tweeting of the trial at the Old Bailey. Continue reading
The phone hacking trial of originally eight and finally seven defendants finally concluded yesterday, 25 June 2014, having begun on 28 October 2013. It end with a verdict of guilty on Count 1, conspiracy to intercept voicemails, against former News of the World Editor Andy Coulson. The jury were unable to agree on two charges of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office against Andy Coulson and Clive Goodman. The other five defendants – Rebekah Brooks, Stuart Kuttner, Charlie Brooks, Cheryl Carter and Mark Hanna – we acquitted on all charges. Continue reading