Privacy: It may not be OK! But we now have a Privacy Law of Sorts
First published on NIPC Case Law Update on 28 May 2005 The decision of the Court of Appeal in Douglas and others v Hello! Ltd and others [2005] EMLR 28, [2005] 3 WLR 881, [2005] HRLR 27, [2005] 4 All ER 128, [2005] EWCA Civ 595, [2006] QB 125, [2005] 2 FCR 487 to overturn damages of over £1 million that Mr. Justice Lindsey had ordered Hello! magazine to pay to OK! was announced on the Radio 4 news. The importance of that judgment, however, was not the size of the award, the scale of the reverse or even the participation of two Hollywood stars. It was the Court’s recognition that art 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights obliges governments not only to refrain from unwarranted intrusion into private lives but also to take positive steps to protect privacy. In view of the reluctance of this government and every predecessor since the Younger Report (Cmnd. 5012, HMSO,1972) to legislate on privacy, it was up to the courts to give effect to that obligation. The Convention...