Cases

HRH The Prince of Wales v Associated Newspapers (No.3) (CA)

Comment

The Court criticised as an “over-simplification” the adoption in this case of the Campbell approach of asking whether P’s Article 8 rights were engaged, and if so, whether this was justified under Article 8(2) to protect the Article 10 rights of A and the public. They held that this was not a case that involved a breach of privacy that required an extension of traditional breach of confidence. Applying traditional principles, albeit in the light of the recent privacy cases, the Court placed great weight on the fact that the disclosure of the journals was a clear prima facie breach of a contractual duty of confidence, on the part of the former employee, of which A was obviously aware. Although the Court stated the appropriate test to be that of proportionality, it appears that the existence of a duty of confidence, particularly of a contractual nature, will tip the balance between Articles 8 and 10 in favour of the former in all but the most exceptional case.

Areas of work

Copyright
Human Rights
Intellectual Property
Media Law
Privacy and Confidence

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