The Inforrm blog is taking a summer break for a couple of weeks. We thank all our readers and contributors who over the past 18 months have made this into one of the world’s leading media law blogs.
The blog has now had nearly 600,000 page views since February 2010 with an average of over 1,500 a day in 2011. We now have over 350 email subscribers.
Yesterday the Culture Media and Sport Committee deferred its decision to recall James Murdoch pending further information being sought from inter alia former employees of News International.
Her Majesty’s Attorney-General Claimant – and – (1) MGN Limited Defendants (2) News Group Newspapers Limited [2011] EWHC 2074 (Admin)
The High Court has found that the Daily Mirror and The Sun were in breach of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 (1981 Act) in relation to their reporting of the Jo Yeates murder case. The court was strongly critical of the “vilification” of a man who was arrested but quickly released without charge. Read the rest of this entry »
The News Corporation website in New York is the corporate website for the holding Company that owns News International Limited which, in turn, owns News Group Newspapers Limited which published the “News of the World” and continues to publish the “Sun”. Despite the developments in the last few weeks, and the evidence of Rupert and James Murdoch before the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee, the News Corporation website still displays a statement dated 7 July 2009 criticising the reporting of the “Guardian” about phone hacking. Read the rest of this entry »
Lord Justice Leveson today outlined the procedures and time-scale for his Inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the press in connection with its relationships with the public, the police and politicians. He made a short “Opening Statement”, part of which can be seen on the clip at the bottom of this post. Read the rest of this entry »
On 26 July 2011 Mr Justice Tugendhat handed down a reserved judgment after the trial in Thornton v Telegraph Media Group ([2011] EWHC 1884 (QB)). The claimant was successful and a total award of damages for libel and malicious falsehood of £65,000 was made. The case is notable for a number of firsts. Read the rest of this entry »
The Prime Minister recently announced that the Government would publish details of all meetings that it has had with media executives. The list of Meetings between the Prime Minister and “Proprietors, editors and senior media executives” and of “Guests to Chequers” lists are now available on the 10 Downing Street website. Read the rest of this entry »
On Friday 22 July 2011 Mr Justice King handed down a public judgment in the case of NEJ v Wood ([2011] EWHC 1972 (QB)). This is a revised version of a judgment originally given more than 3 months ago – on 13 April 2011 – on the return date of an injunction granted on 9 April 2011 by Mr Justice Blake. The case is an important example of a new trend in privacy cases – giving effect to Article 10 rights by permitting the story to be told without identifying the other party to the relationship. Read the rest of this entry »
Despite Parliament’s summer recess, the Home Affairs Select Committee continues to pursue its investigation into phone hacking – writing to a number of key participants seeking further information. The Committee has today published its recent correspondence with solicitors Lord Goldsmith the former Attorney General, Lord Macdonald, the former DPP and solicitors Harbottle & Lewis. Read the rest of this entry »
On Christmas Day 2009, a man boarded a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit and allegedly tried to detonate a bomb hidden in his underwear. Thought to be a failed Al-Qaeda terrorist plot, this led to the introduction of Advanced Image Technology (‘AIT’) (full body scanners) in UK airports and the acceleration of their use in the US.
In the US, the introduction of the new technology has just been declared lawful. In the UK, the interim code of practice setting out their acceptable use has just been the subject of a public consultation. Read the rest of this entry »
