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Privacy laws
26 May 2011
As many people will be aware, Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, the Master of the Rolls and senior civil judge in England and Wales, together with a committee of judges and lawyers, has published a report on 'Open Justice'. The report on super injunctions (formally released at a press conference at the High Court on 20th May) recommends, amongst other things, that the media is permitted into Court, subject to reporting safeguards.
It was thought that on the basis of the report Kenneth Clarke, the Justice Secretary would push a new Privacy Act through Parliament, which would provide clarity to judges in respect of 'gagging orders' otherwise known as super injunctions.
However issues have moved swiftly forward. In the last few days a disclosure order has been made against Twitter and some well known and famous characters, who had secured super injunctions, were been named in Parliament, with MP's using the shield of parliamentary privilege.
This now begs the questions of when super injunctions should be granted, how enforceable are they (given the growing culture of social media) and how should there be an 'understanding' between parliament and the judiciary so that injunctions are not flouted or made worthless.
Watch our articles for further commentary on this complicated and interesting subject.
Ellen Crabtree and Andrew Petchey, Litigation Team
