Shortly before stepping down temporarily as chairman of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), Lord Wakeham made a speech about privacy, regulation of the press and the Human Rights Act.
Wakeham claimed that newspaper journalism had been transformed in the 11 years since the PCC was established and that self-regulation through the PCC code was far more effective and much cheaper than regulation by the courts. He went on to complain about the recent use of the Human Rights Act in some court cases where injunctions had been sought and obtained. Wakeham asserted that the injunction granted in the footballer adultery case A v B (No 2) was “an unacceptable infringement on press freedom and freedom of expression”.
