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Privacy in English law is a rapidly developing area of
English law English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, be ...
that considers situations where individuals have a
legal right Some philosophers distinguish two types of rights, natural rights and legal rights. * Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are ''universal'', ''fundamental right ...
to
informational privacy Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as data pr ...
- the protection of personal or private information from misuse or unauthorized disclosure. Privacy law is distinct from those laws such as
trespass Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels, and trespass to land. Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding ...
or
assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
that are designed to protect physical privacy. Such laws are generally considered as part of
criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...
or the
law of tort A tort is a civil wrong that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with criminal wrongs that are punishabl ...
. Historically, English
common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
has recognized no general right or
tort A tort is a civil wrong that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with criminal wrongs that are punishable ...
of privacy, and offered only limited protection through the doctrine of
breach of confidence The tort A tort is a civil wrong that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with criminal wrongs that are ...
and a "piecemeal" collection of related legislation on topics like
harassment Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behavior that demeans, humiliates or embarrasses a person, and it is characteristically identified by its unlikelihood in terms of social and moral ...
and
data protection Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as data pr ...
. The introduction of the
Human Rights Act 1998 The Human Rights Act 1998 (c. 42) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which received royal assent on 9 November 1998, and came into force on 2 October 2000. Its aim was to incorporate into UK law the rights contained in the European Con ...
incorporated into English law the
European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by t ...
. Article 8.1 of the ECHR provided an explicit right to respect for a private life. The Convention also requires the judiciary to "have regard" to the Convention in developing the common law.


Definition

The earliest definition of privacy in English law was given by
Thomas M. Cooley Thomas McIntyre Cooley (January 6, 1824 – September 12, 1898) was the 25th Justice and a Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, between 1864 and 1885. Born in Attica, New York, he was father to Charles Cooley, a distinguished American so ...
who defined privacy as "the right to be left alone". In 1972 the Younger Committee, an inquiry into privacy stated that the term could not be defined satisfactorily. Again in 1990 the Calcutt Committee concluded that: "nowhere have we found a wholly satisfactory statutory definition of privacy".


Common law

There is currently a
right to privacy The right to privacy is an element of various legal traditions that intends to restrain governmental and private actions that threaten the privacy of individuals. Over 150 national constitutions mention the right to privacy. On 10 December 1948 ...
in
common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
. This point was reaffirmed when the House of Lords ruled in Campbell v MGN (a case involving a supermodel who claim that she has not taken drugs). It has also been stated that the European Convention on Human Rights does not require the development of an independent tort of privacy. In the absence of a common law right to privacy in English law torts such as the equitable doctrine breach of confidence, torts linked to the intentional infliction of harm to the person and public law torts relating to the use of police powers have been used to fill a gap in the law. The judiciary has developed the law in an incremental fashion and have resisted the opportunity to create a new tort.


Expansion of privacy laws

British Radio Jockey
Sara Cox Sara Joanne Cyzer (née Cox; born 13 December 1974) is an English broadcaster. She presented ''Radio 1 Breakfast'' on BBC Radio 1 from 3 April 2000 until 19 December 2003. Since January 2019 she now hosts the BBC Radio 2 drivetime show, Monday ...
's case against ''
The People The ''Sunday People'' is a British tabloid Sunday newspaper. It was founded as ''The People'' on 16 October 1881. At one point owned by Odhams Press, The ''People'' was acquired along with Odhams by the Mirror Group in 1961, along with the ' ...
'' newspaper was one of the first
celebrity privacy Celebrity privacy refers to the right of celebrities and public figures, largely entertainers, athletes or politicians, to withhold the information they are unwilling to disclose. This term often pertains explicitly to personal information, whic ...
cases. The media referred to the case as a "watershed". The disc jockey sued after the newspaper printed nude photographs of her taken while on her honeymoon. However the case was settled out of court and so did not establish a precedent. The decision was seen as discrediting the
Press Complaints Commission The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC closed on Monday 8 September 2014, and was replaced by the Indep ...
The expansion of the doctrine of breach of confidence under the Human Rights Act began with the
Douglas v Hello! was a series of cases in which Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones challenged unauthorised photos of their wedding in the English courts. The case resulted in ''OK!'' Magazine being awarded £1,033,156. Facts Michael Douglas and Catherin ...
decision. Section 6 of the Human Rights Act requires English courts to give effect to the rights in the Convention when developing the common law. There is no need to show a pre-existing relationship of confidence where private information is involved and the courts have recognised that the publication of private material represents a detriment in itself. The Human Rights act has
horizontal effect In law, horizontal effect refers to the ability of legal requirements meant to apply only to public bodies to affect private rights. It arises where a court dealing with a legal dispute between purely private entities interprets a legal provision to ...
in disputes between private individuals meaning that the Human Rights Act is just as applicable as if one party had been a public body. Breach of confidence now extends to private information (regardless of whether it is confidential) so as to give effect to Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Before this breach of confidence afforded "umbrella protection" to both personal and non-personal information.


ECHR challenge

Following Max Mosley's successful action against the ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...
'' newspaper for publishing details of his private life, he announced that he would challenge English law's implementation of the Article 8 right to privacy guaranteed when the Human Rights Act implemented the European Convention on Human Rights into English law. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) was asked to rule on the issue of "prior notification". This would require journalists to approach the subject of any investigation and inform them of the details of any allegations made about them, therefore allowing an injunction to be claimed. The ECHR ruled that domestic law was not in conflict with the convention.


Debate

The increasing protections afforded to the private lives of individuals has sparked debate as to whether
English law English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, be ...
gives enough weight to freedom of the press and whether intervention by
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
would be beneficial. The editor of the satirical magazine ''Private Eye'' Ian Hislop has argued against the development of English privacy law. He told BBC's ''Panorama'': "You don't have to prove it n allegationisn't true, you just have to prove that it's private by your definition. And in some of the cases the definition of privacy is pretty weak." However, Liberal Democrat politician Mark Oaten has stated that the press were right to expose details of his private life: :"I concluded that however awful it may be, it's better to have a press which can expose MPs' private lives because it means we have a free press… it means we can expose corruption." Max Mosley has argued for the further advancement of the law whereas the editor of the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'' newspaper
Paul Dacre Paul Michael Dacre (; born 14 November 1948) is an English journalist and the former long-serving editor of the British right-wing tabloid the ''Daily Mail''. He is also editor-in-chief of DMG Media, which publishes the ''Daily Mail'', ''The Ma ...
has accused
Mr Justice Eady Sir David Eady, KC (born 24 March 1943) is a retired High Court judge in England and Wales. As a judge, he is known for having presided over many high-profile libel and privacy cases. He was called to the bar in 1966 and became a Queen's Co ...
, the judge in the Mosley case, of bringing in a privacy law by the back door.


Key cases

* '' Entick v Carrington'' * ''
Prince Albert v Strange ''Prince Albert v Strange'' was a court decision made by the High Court of Chancery in 1849, and began the development of confidence law in England. The court awarded Prince Albert an injunction, restraining Strange from publishing a catalogue ...
'' * '' AMP v. Persons Unknown'' * ''
A v. B plc ''A v. B plc'' is a 2003 case in English law in which a Premiership footballer sought an injunction to prevent a Sunday newspaper from publishing details of his extra-marital affair. The Court of Appeal granted a temporary injunction against pub ...
'' * '' Bernstein of Leigh v. Skyviews & General Ltd'' * '' Campbell v Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd'' * ''
Douglas v Hello! was a series of cases in which Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones challenged unauthorised photos of their wedding in the English courts. The case resulted in ''OK!'' Magazine being awarded £1,033,156. Facts Michael Douglas and Catherin ...
'' * '' Google Inc v Vidal-Hall & Ors'' * '' Gulati & Ors v MGN Limited'' * '' Halliday v Creation Consumer Finance Ltd (CCF)'' * '' His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales v. Associated Newspapers Ltd'' * ''
Kaye v. Robertson ''Kaye v Robertson'' 991FSR 62 is a case in English law, expressing the view that there is no common-law right to privacy in English law. Facts The case involved actor Gorden Kaye, who had suffered serious head injuries when a plank smashed thr ...
'' * ''
Mosley v News Group Newspapers Limited ''Mosley v News Group Newspapers'' 008EWHC 1777 (QB) was an English High Court case in which the former President of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, Max Mosley, challenged the ''News of the World''. The newspaper had exposed his ...
'' * ''
Murray v Big Pictures (UK) Ltd Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...
'' * '' McKennitt v Ash'' * '' Theakston v Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd'' * ''
Wainwright v Home Office is an English tort law case concerning the arguments for a tort of privacy, and the action for battery. Facts Alan Wainwright, along with his mother, went to visit his stepbrother, who was detained in Leeds Prison awaiting trial. Because the s ...
'' * ''
Wood v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...
''


European rulings

* '' Von Hannover v. Germany''


See also

*
2011 British privacy injunctions controversy The British privacy injunctions controversy began in early 2011, when London-based tabloid newspapers published stories about anonymous celebrities that were intended to flout what are commonly (but not formally) known in English law as super-inj ...
*
Breach of confidence The tort A tort is a civil wrong that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with criminal wrongs that are ...
*
European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by t ...
*
Press Complaints Commission The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC closed on Monday 8 September 2014, and was replaced by the Indep ...


Further reading

* J. Morgan, “Privacy, Confidence and Horizontal Effect: “Hello” Trouble” (2003) 62 (2) ''Cambridge Law Journal'' 444 * H. Fenwick and G. Phillipson, “Confidence and Privacy: A Re-Examination”
996 Year 996 ( CMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * February - Chotoku Incident: Fujiwara no Korechika and Takaie shoot an arrow at Retired Em ...
''Cambridge Law Journal'' 447. * H. Fenwick and G. Phillipson, “Breach of Confidence as a Privacy Remedy in the Human Rights Act Era” (2000) 63 ''Modern Law Review'' 660. * R. Singh and J. Strachan, “Privacy Postponed”
003 003, O03, 0O3, OO3 may refer to: *003, fictional British 00 Agent *003, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian ambulance service (until 1986) *1990 OO3, the asteroid 6131 Towen * OO3 gauge model railway *''O03 (O2)'' and other related ...
''European Human Rights Law Review'' Special Issue: Privacy 12-25.


Notes and references


External links


Concerns and Ideas about the Developing English Law of Privacy(and how knowledge of foreign law might be of help) A research project undertaken by the Institute of Global Law

Can I Sue Google If It Says I’m Gay? The Tales of Internet Defamation in the UK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Privacy In English Law English law English tort law English privacy law