The English Law of Privacy
Hugh Tomlinson QC of the The UKSC blog reports: “On 25 August 2010 Supreme Court Justice Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe gave a speech to Anglo-Australasian Lawyers Society at Owen Dixon Chambers, Melbourne on the subject of privacy. His title was “The English Law of Privacy: An Evolving Human Right“. The lecture contains an interesting an useful overview of the current law of privacy, particularly in relation to the media. Lord Walker suggests that, as the law of privacy develops “its origin in the law of confidence will become a historical curiosity” and that we have now reached the point where “invasion of personal privacy” is a separate tort.”
I’ve read Lord Walker’s excellent lecture on this complex subject – a must read for anyone interested in the law of privacy and libel.
Monkeying with national sovereignty
Carl Gardner: William Hague’s national sovereignty clause is a pointless, perilous sop to Eurosceptics
Can parliament still be sovereign if, as the courts have consistently ruled, European Union law is supreme over national law? Legally, the answer is surprisingly simple: it can be, and is. Yet the question nags at Eurosceptic Conservatives, and the coalition agreement committed the government to “examine the case” for legislation that makes it clear that ultimate authority over British law remains in Britain.
But they’ve not taken long to examine it. The foreign secretary, William Hague, announced yesterday in Birmingham that an EU bill to be put before the Commons later this year will contain a clause intended to “reaffirm once and for all the sovereignty of our ancient parliament”. His case for doing so, though, does not bear even brief examination……
(I shall leave you the pleasure of reading what else Carl had to say. It is worth a read.)
I am doing a podcast with Carl Gardner on the subject later today. I agree with Carl. I can’t quite see what Hague is on about here. I suspect, as Carl observed drily to me, that Sir Humphrey would approve of this nonsense. I’d be surprised if Constitutional lawyers are impressed with this – but, who knows, there may be a few out there!
Which ancient Parliament is this then? As far as I am concerned, my country had its own Parliament until 1707 when for reasons both base and noble it merged itself into the Parliament of Great Britain.
For once I am in agreement with Carl Gardner (He opposed prisoners human right to the vote!).