header-logo header-logo

Broadcasting—Freedom of expression—Access to prisoners

19 January 2012
Issue: 7497 / Categories: Case law , Law reports , In Court
printer mail-detail

R (on the application of British Broadcasting Corporation and another) v Secretary of State for Justice [2012] EWHC 13 (Admin), [2012] All ER (D) 29 (Jan)

 

Queen’s Bench Division, Divisional Court, Hooper LJ and Singh J, 11 Jan 2012
 
A decision of the secretary of state for justice to refuse the BBC permission to conduct and broadcast a face-to-face interview with a prisoner was a disproportionate interference with the right of freedom of expression guaranteed by Art 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Lord Pannick QC and Tim Cleaver (instructed by BBC legal department) for the claimants. James Eadie QC and Martin Chamberlain (instructed by the Treasury Solicitor) for the secretary of state.

The claimants, the BBC and one of its home affairs correspondents, applied for permission to conduct a face-to-face interview with a prisoner. The claimants also wished to broadcast the filmed product of that interview. The prisoner had been held without charge in the UK and his extradition had been sought by the US
If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
back-to-top-scroll