The media continue to seek to resist Lord Justice Leveson’s proposals for the self-regulation of the press by appeals to their “human rights”. A number of legal opinions opposing the proposals have been leaked to the press although, as far as I am aware, none have in fact been published. Whilst it is good to see that the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph have become converts to the value of the European Convention on Human Rights, these claims do not – on analysis – undermine the Leveson proposals.
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Comparing different countries’ legal systems is a dangerous game, but three cases came to light last week which beg to be compared. The criminalisation of criticising political leaders has always been a hallmark of illiberal societies, and it seems that the tradition is still going strong today: in France, the West Bank and the UK too.
First, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that a man should not have been convicted of a criminal offence for waving a placard at (as he was then) President Sarkozy reading “Casse toi pov’con” (“Get lost, you sad prick”). Continue reading
A lot has been written in recent days about the proposed new clauses to go into the Crime and Courts Bill, which is due to be debated in the Lords on Monday, on exemplary damages and costs. The content and import of these clauses are very worrying and pose some serious threats to free speech. Continue reading
Only a few weeks after the Strasbourg Court’s judgment in the case of Ashby Donald and others v. France (ECtHR 10 January 2013, see our Inforrm post here) the Court of has decided a new case of conflicting rights between copyright and freedom of expression. The case of Fredrik Neij and Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi (The Pirate Bay) v. Sweden, Appl. nr. 40397/12 concerned the complaint by two of the co-founders of “The Pirate Bay”, that their conviction for complicity to commit crimes in violation of the Copyright Act had breached their freedom of expression and information.
As one would expect, the subject of applying regulation to the internet, has come under particular scrutiny from the online community as a result of proposals contained in the draft Royal Charter on self-regulation of the press and amendments to the Crime and Courts Bill. On the whole they have been criticised as an unwarranted extension which will have a “chilling effect” on internet publishers. Is this an accurate assessment of the proposals? Continue reading
The introduction by the cross party agreement of statutory provisions supporting a Royal Charter setting up a “Recognition Panel” (see our post here) has led, once again, to complaints that any political involvement in press regulation – however indirect – is incompatible with press freedom. For example, the Chief Executive of Index on Censorship, Kirsty Hughes, has argued that
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There may be no typical cases in this area of the law, but Thompson v James epitomised the controversy which can surround libel litigation. The protracted and bitter nature of the dispute, the Claimant’s focus on local government transparency, and the issue of access to Council proceedings all made the action a subject of concern to a range of vociferous interest groups in the print media and online. Continue reading
The first phase of the process of implementation of the Report of Lord Justice Leveson has ended with cross-party agreement on the setting up of the “recognition body” and the accompanying incentives. The parties have agreed to establish the “recognition panel” by Royal Charter [pdf]. Continue reading
The Defamation Bill is presently in a twilight zone between the House of Lords and the House of Commons. It is being held up by the presence of the so-called “Puttnam Amendment” (clause 2). This problem is likely to be resolved today with cross-party agreement on the implementation of Lord Justice Leveson’s recommendations. Continue reading
Four current or former Mirror journalists were arrested last week by Metropolitan police officers on suspicion of conspiracy to hack mobile telephones, as Inforrm reported here. Those arrested were named as James Scott, editor of the People, Nick Buckley, deputy editor of the People, Tina Weaver, former Sunday Mirror editor, and Mark Thomas, former deputy editor of the Sunday Mirror. This was the first time the Mirror Group was brought into the phone hacking investigation. Continue reading
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