Tuesday 25 March 2014

Law Test Revision Notes:

The legal Principles For Journalists:
Freedom of expression  - now secured in UK law through the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 10).  But also protected by UK case law and precedent.
 
Rule against prior restraint  - the long standing assumption in English law that any remedy should FOLLOW publication rather than there be RESTRAINT  or censorship before it.  The use of injunctions has tended to undermine this.
 
The public interest - the idea that certain information is particularly valuable to society as a whole.  How the information was gained (which may have involved dishonesty) is secondary. This does not include information that is of interest to the public like a kiss and tell story. There is a general public interest which allows a broad range of material to be published. 
 
Right to a jury trial - juries have a history of being reluctant to convict journalists who may argue they are serving the public interest.
 
European Convention on Human Rights - Less pleasant aspect for some newspapers is that the Convention has introduced the idea of Privacy (Article 8) into British law

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