Tag: Tessa Evans

The Sun has been relying on human rights arguments again this week. Despite its long term opposition to the Human Rights Act the newspaper argued, before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (“IPT”), that the Metropolitan Police had infringed the rights of three of its reporters by accessing their phone records during the Plebgate incident. Continue reading

The most high profile media law story of the week was the trial in Edinburgh of Andy Coulson, who is accused of lying under oath in the 2010 perjury trial of MSP Tommy Sheridan. The prosecution called several former News of the World journalists to give evidence. Continue reading

The biggest media legal story of the week was the Mirror Phone Hacking judgment handed down by Mr Justice Mann on 21 May 2015.  This is generally seen as marking a turning point in phone hacking litigation. Although there have been several hundred claims against News Group Newspapers and Mirror Group Newspapers this is the first time there has a been a public judgment on damages. Continue reading

On Friday 15 April 2015, former News of the World editor and Downing Street head of communications Andy Coulson, pleaded not guilty to perjury at the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh. Continue reading

Trinity Mirror has published a public apology for phone hacking and revealed that the cost of resolving civil claims will be millions more than anticipated. The company has admitted that “such behaviour represented an unwarranted and unacceptable intrusion into people’s private lives”. Continue reading

Privacy was high on the agenda this week as David Cameron met with Barack Obama to discuss issues of surveillance and security. Cameron was reported as taking a tougher line on the issue than Obama. The two countries plan to carry out “war games” in order to test their defenses against online criminals. The first exercise, an attack on the financial sector, will begin later this year. Continue reading

The horrific events in Paris dominated the news this week.  The slaughter of the staff of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and the other killings by three criminal misfits produced wide ranging reflections on freedom of expression and responsibility.  Continue reading