Max Mosley’s fracas with the News of the World has re-opened debate over the interpretation of privacy laws in Europe
The recent UK decision of Mosley v News Group Newspapers provides an opportunity to consider how different European jurisdictions are handling the need 
to balance the competing rights to privacy under article eight and to freedom of expression under article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In particular, there has been much discussion about the 2004 decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Von Hannover v Germany, which related to the publication of numerous, fairly innocuous photographs of Princess Caroline of Monaco taken in public places. The decisive factor in finding that Princess Caroline’s right to privacy had been infringed was that the photographs in question did not contribute “to a debate of general interest”.
