Cases

Financial Times Ltd & Ors v United Kingdom

Held

Finding a violation of Art 10:

The Court reiterated that protection of journalists' sources is one of the basic conditions of press freedom in a democratic society. Without it, the vital 'public watchdog' role of the press may be seriously undermined. An order for disclosure of a source cannot be compatible with Art 10 unless it is justified by an overriding requirement in the public interest. The distinction between the disclosure of documents which lead directly to the identification of a source and a document which might, on examination, lead to such identification was not crucial. The chilling effect arises wherever journalists are seen to assist in the identification of anonymous sources. In the current case, Interbrew's interest in identifying and bringing proceedings against X with a view to preventing further dissemination of confidential information was insufficient to outweigh the public interest in the protection of sources.

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