RPC Privacy Law

The latest news in privacy law

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When can you sue under a disguised name?

Posted on May 03, 2012 by Keith Mathieson

In what circumstances can a claimant in civil litigation commence proceedings under a pseudonym? We are familiar with alphabetised claimants in injunction cases who seek anonymity on grounds that the purpose of their proceedings would otherwise be defeated: if the cheating footballer/act... read more

Parliamentary committee reports on privacy

Posted on April 09, 2012 by Keith Mathieson

The Joint Committee on Privacy and Injunctions has reported. Click here for a link to the full report. The most important recommendations of the committee, which was set up last year and has taken evidence from a wide variety of sources, are (a) that there should be no new privacy statut... read more

Reporting the family courts - new guide published

Posted on August 01, 2011 by Keith Mathieson

A valuable guide has just been published which sets out the law governing access to, and reporting of, the family courts. It has been written by the media law barristers Adam Wolanski and Kate Wilson. The document, available free of charge on the link just given, is entitled "The Family Courts: ... read more

A digest of recent news (1) - UK judgments

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Keith Mathieson

For one reason and another, the blog has been unable to report on much of the recent news. This entry is an attempt to remedy the situation. Normal service should be resumed shortly. UK court judgments MJN v News Group A footballer case where the Sun wished to publish the account by a lingerie ... read more

Super Injunctions: committee reporting soon

Posted on April 08, 2011 by Keith Mathieson

By the end of this month we expect the committee investigating super injunctions to publish its report. The committee is chaired by the Master of Rolls, Lord Neuberger, who has said in a recent speech that he expects his report to appear before the end of April. In view of recent press coverage of ... read more

Forced sterilisation case heard in public

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Clare Jaycock

On 15 February 2011 Hedley J ordered that a case proceeding in the Court of Protection which featured medical information of the highest sensitivity should be held in open court. The Court of Protection normally hears such cases in private. The case concerned a young woman aged 21 with severe lear... read more

Supreme Court welcomes Twitter

Posted on February 08, 2011 by Louise Jacobs

The use of Twitter is now officially sanctioned in the Supreme Court. In a previous posting we discussed the Lord Chief Justice's guidance on the use of Twitter in other courts open to the public. That guidance envisaged an application being made to the judge for permission to tweet. In the Supr... read more

Shock decision: sportsman not unmasked

Posted on February 01, 2011 by Keith Mathieson

The identity of the sportsman officially known as JIH remains confidential. Those newspapers hoping to unmask him in the event that the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of Tugendhat J have had to content themselves with short court reports accompanied by silhouettes (presumably not of the real p... read more

A mass outbreak of anonymity: CDE and FGH v MGN and LMN

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Keith Mathieson

It is not unusual for claimants in privacy cases to be anonymised. It is less common for defendants and distinctly unusual for non-parties. The effect of Eady J's order in CDE v MGN [2010] EWHC 3308 is that we do not know the identity of the two claimants, the second defendant, her solicitor, her ... read more

Should the parties in privacy cases be anonymised? - a summary of the recent judgments

Posted on January 14, 2011 by Keith Mathieson

Since the end of the summer at least eight judgments have considered whether the parties to successful applications for privacy injunctions should be anonymised. The results (in chronological order) are as follows: DFT v TFD: both parties anonymised. AMM v HXW: both parties anonymised. Gray v UV... read more

Super-injunctions - an update

Posted on January 14, 2011 by Keith Mathieson

Super-injunctions are injunctions that prevent publication of the fact that the court has made an injunction. It is now clear that they will be granted only in those rare cases where publication of the order would frustrate the very purpose of the order or where there is some other unusual and comp... read more

7/7 footage withheld from public to protect privacy of victims and their families

Posted on January 14, 2011 by Kim Waite

The Coroner conducting the inquest into the terror attacks in London on 7 July 2005 has ordered that certain footage shown in court of the aftermath of the 7/7 attacks should not be released to the media. Lady Justice Hallet reached this decision despite being "accutely conscious" of the p... read more

No exclusion of bereaved families from 7/7 inquest

Posted on January 14, 2011 by Kim Waite

The Divisional Court has refused the Government's application for judicial review of the 7/7 Coroner's decision not to exclude victims' families from the court during its private sessions. Coroners' courts normally sit in public. However, Rule 17 of the Coroners Rules 1984 all... read more

Family court lifts restriction on naming local authority

Posted on January 13, 2011 by Kim Waite

In High Court care proceedings in which a costs order was made against a local authority, the court, having previously anonymised all parties, decided to lift the restriction on naming the local authority. Its decision was made following representations by the BBC. The case is now reported as Cove... read more

Court of Protection names guilty council

Posted on January 13, 2011 by Keith Mathieson

The Court of Protection has lifted its usual anonymity rule and named a local council it rebuked for breaching the Article 5 and 8 rights of a 19-year-old man with serious learning difficulties and severe physical disabilities. Baker J's original judgment was subject to reporting restrictions which... read more

Media access to Court of Protection

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Keith Mathieson

The Independent newspaper has won the right to attend and report on a case in the Court of Protection. Its report of the ruling of Hedley J is here. The Court of Protection is empowered to make decisions about the property, affairs, healthcare and personal welfare of adults who lack capacity. I... read more

Public access to documents in criminal cases

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Keith Mathieson

The Administrative Court has upheld the decision of a district judge to refuse the press access to documents placed before a magistrates court in connection with extradition proceedings: R (on the application of Guardian News & Media) v City of Westminster Magistrates Court [2010] EWHC 3376. The ca... read more

Anonymisation of parties in matrimonial proceedings

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Keith Mathieson

The Court of Appeal has lifted an order by a family court judge which directed that the parties to the proceedings should be anonymised. In Lykiardopolu v Lykiardopolu [2010] EWCA Civ 1315 Mrs Justice Baron had ordered that the parties’ identities should be protected in order to avoid damage to the... read more

Privacy and anonymisation in commercial cases and in the Court of Appeal

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Keith Mathieson

In a music royalties dispute involving Pink Floyd, the Court of Appeal has made it clear that a private hearing or anonymisation of parties should take place only where the court is satisfied this is necessary for the proper administration of justice. In the Pink Floyd case – Pink Floyd Music Limit... read more

About this blog

RPC Privacy Law Articles

This blog features regular postings on developments in UK privacy law written by specialist lawyers at RPC. The postings are intended to keep RPC's Privacy Law Handbook (see below) as up-to-date as possible and while postings do refer readers to relevant sections of the book, we hope and intend that the blog will also be a useful source of current information to those without access to the book.