In the UK, we have a diverse press, regulated by the Press Complaints Commission, which is independent of direct state control. There is, pursuant to the Contempt of Court Act 1981, statutory protection for journalists, to ensure that sources can be protected except in limited, prescribed circumstances.
The European Convention, now part of UK law under the Human Rights Act 1998, guarantees the fundamental right to freedom of expression and other civil and political rights. A balance needs to be struck between confidentiality, privacy rights (also protected under the Convention) and freedom of expression. In legal challenges such as the action brought by Naomi Campbell against The Mirror, the debate has focused on whether enhanced
protection of privacy threatens free speech. However, recent decisions in Ashworth Hospital Authority v MGN Ltd [2002] 1 WLR 2033, and in Interbrew SA v Financial Times and Ors [2002] EWCA, demonstrate how erosion of journalists’ confidentiality and privacy may also be harmful to free speech.
