The father applied to the court to have the media excluded from the hearing into the residence and contact claims relating to his daughter. Held: It was for the party seeking such an order to justify it. In deciding whether or not to exclude the press in the welfare or privacy interests of a party … Continue reading Child X (Residence and Contact- Rights of Media Attendance) (Rev 2): FD 14 Jul 2009
As regards the offence of making indecent photographs of children, any intention of the defendant was irrelevant as to whether the photographs themselves were indecent. The defendant said he had obtained the images without any indecent intent, but only because they had a high photographic quality. The situation was different from that which obtained on … Continue reading Regina v Smethurst: CACD 13 Apr 2001
The applicant sought damages for the defendant having infringed her privacy in several ways, including under the 1998 Act. The defendant argued that she had invited publicity and had misled the public as to her drug problem. A photograch had been taken as she left a drug rehabilitation group meeting. Held: The fact that she … Continue reading Campbell v Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd: QBD 27 Mar 2002
The applicant had been refused a certification certificate for his video ‘Visions of Ecstasy’ on the basis that it infringed the criminal law of blasphemy. The Court found that the offence was prescribed by law and served the legitimate aim of protecting the rights of others. Held: The provision of a system which would allow … Continue reading Wingrove v The United Kingdom: ECHR 25 Nov 1996
Grand Chamber – The applicant alleged that his conviction for publishing ‘secret official deliberations’ had been contrary to Article 10 of the Convention. Held: The court acknowledged a legitimate interest on the part of the state in punishing an unauthorised disclosure by the press of tendentiously selected parts of a confidential diplomatic memorandum which admittedly … Continue reading Stoll v Switzerland: ECHR 10 Dec 2007
The defendant had been a member of the security services. On becoming employed, and upon leaving, he had agreed to keep secret those matters disclosed to him. He had broken those agreements and was being prosecuted. He sought a decision that the defence that the disclosures had been made by him in the public or … Continue reading Regina v Shayler: HL 21 Mar 2002
Balance of Religious Tolerance and Freedom The Institut operated a cinema. It announced a showing of a film ‘Das Liebenconzil’. Proceedings were brought against it, on complaint by the Roman Catholic Church, in which it was accused of ‘disparaging religious doctrine’. The film was seized before it could be shown. The Court found that in … Continue reading Otto-Preminger-Institut v Austria: ECHR 20 Sep 1994