Yesterday’s decision in MGN v United Kingdom (Case No. 39401/04) has become the most discussed media law case of the year so far. The combination is irresistible: a victory for the media over the hated ‘conditional fee arrangement’ (CFA) and the opportunity to publish more photographs of Naomi Campbell.
Finally, some vindication for Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) nearly 10 years after the publication of its original article. Whatever else is said, the six-year delay between application and judgment is unjustifiable (and would, if the Court of Human Rights had been a national court, have been a breach of Article 6).
