There have been plenty of reactions to Lord Justice Leveson’s report on the culture, practices and ethics of the press. Max Hastings described it in the Daily Mail (30 November) as heralding ‘a rotten day for freedom’ while the Sun described the recommendations as ‘a basis on which to destroy 300 years of Press freedom’ (30 November). The victims, meanwhile, argued that Leveson had provided the minimal conditions for meeting their demands for an ethical press while some simply discarded the entire process as irrelevant. Continue reading
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In the case of Yildrim v Turkey (Case No 3111/10) the Court of Human Rights decided that a Court order blocking access to “Google Sites” in Turkey was a violation of Article 10. The measure was not “prescribed by law” because it was not reasonably foreseeable or in accordance with the rule of law. The judgment is available only in French. Continue reading
Detective Chief Inspector April Casburn has been convicted of misconduct in a public office by a jury at Southwark Crown Court after she admitted telephoning the “News of the World” on 11 September 2010, shortly after the phone hacking inquiry was re-opening. She is the first person to have been prosecuted under Operation Elveden, the investigation into improper police behaviour. Continue reading
In R v Ahmed Faraz [2012] EWCA Crim 2820 a man dubbed ‘the terrorists’ favourite bookseller’ successfully challenged seven convictions for disseminating ‘terrorist publications’ under s.2 of the Terrorism Act 2006. The Court of Appeal quashed his convictions after ruling the jury had been improperly told that named terrorists possessed identical DVDs and books. At the same time, it held the legislation did not unlawfully encroach on the appellant’s right to free expression. Continue reading
The Information Commissioner has published his response to the Leveson Report. His response was overwhelming positive, agreeing with the large majority of recommendations including, in particular, the recommendations about tougher sentencing for data protection offences. This would not, however, have been clear to readers of the British press. Newspaper reports of the response concentrated on one sentence of the 20 page document dealing with one part of one recommendation. Continue reading
But the ICO were not the only ones furious with Dacre and co over their lobbying against custodial penalties under section 55 of the Data Protection Act. Writing in the Guardian, 7 April 2008, the paper’s investigations editor David Leigh stated that: ‘Rarely has there been a more disgraceful behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign’ than the one outlined above. He continued: ‘Tabloid newspapers want the right to commit crimes with impunity … And they have the brazenness to complain that this campaign is designed to protect “investigative journalism”’. Continue reading
Notwithstanding the representations of the PCC and others the proposal to toughen the sanctions for infringing the DPA were endorsed by the DCMS Committee, which stated that ‘we believe that sufficient safeguards exist to protect legitimate investigative journalism and do not believe that the introduction of custodial sentences for offences under Section 55 of the Data Protection Act 1998 would have the chilling effect claimed by the press”. It also noted with approval the fact that the government had in February 2007 proposed to amend Section 60 of the DPA (via the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill which was then going through Parliament) so as to introduce exactly the sanction recommended by the ICO. Continue reading
On 6 January 2013, Hacked Off, the campaign for a free and accountable press, published its Leveson Draft Bill [pdf], a short parliamentary bill to put into law Lord Justice Leveson’s recommendations on press regulation.
Produced in consultation with victims of press abuse and supporters of Hacked Off, the Leveson Bill has been drafted by Hugh Tomlinson QC, the chair of Hacked Off, and legislative expert and specialist Parliamentary Counsel Daniel Greenberg. Continue reading
Happy New Year to all our readers. This is the first round up of 2013, following a three part Review of the Year 2012 [1, 2, 3]. Firstly, there is still time to complete the Inforrm Media Law Quiz of the Year, set by the reigning champion, Benjamin Pell. Answers should be submitted to Inforrm by email (to inforrmeditorial@gmail.com) by 14 January 2013. Secondly, please do let us know if we’ve missed anything, or if you have suggestions for items to include in the next round up: inforrmeditorial@gmail.com or jt.townend@gmail.com. Continue reading
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