Nearly three and a half years have passed since my original Freedom of Information (FOI) request to see the advice that led to Paul Burrell’s 2002 Old Bailey trial being abruptly stopped when the Queen was at risk of being called as a witness. The final answer is “no, you can’t see it.” Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Tag: Robin Callender-Smith
There are portions of Lord Justice Warby’s most recent judgment in the litigation between Meghan Markle and Associated Newspapers [2021] EWHC 510 (Ch). that read as if he was dealing with a contempt of court case. So trenchant are the phrases he uses to deploy the novel remedy of an enforced publication on the front page and page 3 of The Mail on Sunday and similar for its online relative MailOnline that the phrase “cruel and unusual punishment” springs to mind. Continue reading
Just over a year and a half ago, on 9 July 2019, Inforrm published my piece Will we discover when the Queen can be required to give evidence in court? Continue reading
The Government has been ordered to disclose information that will address the long-running Regina v Regina constitutional conundrum: when can the Queen, as reigning monarch, be asked or required to give evidence in her own courts? Continue reading
The question at the heart of Mr Justice Mann’s High Court judgment in the Sir Cliff Richard v BBC case had been a longstanding legal conundrum: how far do a celebrity’s privacy rights – or indeed anyone’s – extend in respect of the pre-charge stage of a police investigation? Continue reading
Issues of world-wide identification and information on the internet in respect of privacy rights, celebrities and English law reignited in January this year. The Sun on Sunday began its attempt to tell readers about PJS’s ‘three-way’ with A and B with the full knowledge of his married partner YMA. Continue reading
Pictures of bonny Prince George may well become a lot less common following a landmark ruling. Media pictures of the children of celebrities are now clearly off limits – unless their parents consent to publication. The Court of Appeal has confirmed a High Court decision last year giving three of Paul Weller’s children total of £10,000 damages for breaching their right to privacy. This will have far-reaching adverse effects on the freedom of the UK media. Continue reading
My introduction to media law – back in 1966 – was not auspicious. I was about to complete my full-year pre-entry course for journalists, the second one ever to be run at Harlow Technical College in Essex. Then there were no university degrees or diplomas in journalism or media studies. Before Harlow, the three-year trade apprenticeship training for journalists involved correspondence courses and night school classes in shorthand, local government and newspaper law. Continue reading
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