The applicant was in a relationship with Paul McCartney, and in view of attacks on other former Beatles, she sought to restrain publication of the address of a property she had contracted to buy. The newspaper had said it would not publish unless others did, but refused to give an undertaking. The applicant obtained an injunction.
Held: The freedom of the press is vital, but also a right of privacy was developing. A duty of confidence can arise in equity independently of any dealings directly between the parties, in this case where the information may be confidential in nature. The PCC code of practice could be taken into account by the court. To justify a prior restraint, the court must be satisfied that the claimant would be likely to succeed at trial. The house had not been chosen with a view to the claimant’s security, and this was not a case in which an injunction should have been granted.
Mr Justice Lawrence Collins
[2001] EWHC Ch 412
Bailii
Human Rights Act 1998 12, Press Complaints Commission, Code of Practice
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Reynolds v Times Newspapers Ltd and others HL 28-Oct-1999
Fair Coment on Political Activities
The defendant newspaper had published articles wrongly accusing the claimant, the former Prime Minister of Ireland of duplicity. The paper now appealed, saying that it should have had available to it a defence of qualified privilege because of the . .
Cited – Kaye v Robertson CA 16-Mar-1990
A newspaper reporter and photographer invaded the (famouse) plaintiff’s hospital bedroom, purported to interview him and took photographs.
Held: The law of trespass provided no remedy because the plaintiff was not owner or occupier of the room . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Information, Media, Human Rights, Equity
Updated: 23 December 2021; Ref: scu.163022
