“The Government has launched a legal battle to stop a former MI5 undercover agent publishing a book on the inner workings of the secret service.”
Daily Telegraph, 9th March 2008
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills look set to fight out their divorce settlement in public after failing yesterday to reach a deal.”
The Times, 19th February 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“Ministers are coming under growing pressure from the legal profession to act over the regulation of bugging.”
The Times, 6th February 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Commissioner of Police of Bermuda and Another v Bermuda Broadcasting Co Ltd and Others
Privy Council
“The public interest in the freedom of the media to disseminate information relating to those who submitted themselves for election as legislators overrode the public interest in maintaining the confidentiality of documents relating to a police investigation into allegations of corruption.”
The Times, 24th January 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
“Employees who left a company to start up a rival breached that firm’s database rights when they took information with them, the High Court has ruled. The firm failed to prove, though, that the actions breached the company’s confidentiality.”
OUT-LAW.com, 8th January 2008
Source: www.out-law.com
“The Information Commissioner is to investigate a fresh security lapse by the taxman as the confidential details of millions of parents were included in apology letters sent to their last known address.”
The Times, 29th November 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“A judge has said that he could not say for sure that a claim for breach of confidence was without merit based solely on an expert’s view that the information in dispute was in the public domain. He said the case must go to a full trial.”
OUT-LAW.com, 14th November 2007
Source: www.out-law.com
“A former British diplomat yesterday denounced a lifetime confidentiality agreement demanded by the Foreign Office as ‘unworkable and draconian’, and has refused to sign it.”
The Guardian, 12th October 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The Foreign Office has been accused of trying to gag diplomats for life after regulations were issued stopping them from commenting on international issues even after retirement.”
Daily Telegraph, 10th October 2007
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“A worker has won the right to compensation for his sacking after being accused of poaching customers from his employer and starting up his own rival firm. The employer lost the case despite a tribunal finding ‘powerful evidence’ in the employer’s favour.”
OUT-LAW.com, 9th October 2007
Source: www.out-law.com
“A dead woman’s medical records should not be released because a duty of confidentiality survives her death, the Information Tribunal has ruled. The decision backs an earlier ruling by the Information Commissioner.”
The Register, 1st October 2007
Source: www.theregister.co.uk
“A mental health doctor is headed for a showdown with the General Medical Council (GMC) in the High Court because she is accused of breaking confidentiality by posting a link on her blog.”
The Register, 21st August 2007
Source: www.theregister.co.uk
The NHS trust that has been fighting a seven-and-a-half-year legal battle to force a freelance journalist to name a source for a story has been refused further leave to appeal by the House of Lords.
The Guardian, 27th July 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The Mail on Sunday will be forced to return Prince Charles’ diaries after the House of Lords today rejected the paper’s request for leave to appeal the case.”
The Guardian, 14th June 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A Citizens Advice Bureau advisor who was sacked after she phoned a suicidal woman’s GP was awarded £18,000 damages.”
BBC News, 24th May 2007
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Duty of confidentiality to celebrities is enforceable
Douglas and Another v. Hello! Ltd. and Others
House of Lords
“Photographic images of the wedding of two celebrities had a commercial value over which the celebrities had sufficient control to enable them to impose an obligation of confidence. A magazine publisher who had bought the exclusive right to publish the photographs and had the benefit of the duty of confidentiality imposed by the celebrities, had the right to enforce that duty against a rival magazine which published unauthorised photographs of the wedding.”
The Times, 3rd May 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
“The House of Lords’ ruling, by a 3 – 2 majority in favour of OK! magazine’s £1 million claim against Hello!, will further strengthen the grip that celebrities have over the exploitation of their fame. The use of “spoilers”, in which one publication beats another to an “exclusive” story, will now carry a much greater risk of large compensation claims.”
The Times, 2nd May 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“OK! magazine won it’s [sic] appeal today against glossy rival Hello! in the dispute over the Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas wedding photographs.”
The Times, 2nd May 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“New rules to prevent the publication of politically damaging memoirs by former politicians and civil servants will not be in force until after Alastair Campbell’s diaries are released, The Times has learnt.”
The Times, 30th April 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
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