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Finely balanced

20 February 2015 / Mark Lewis , Anna Brooks-Gallerani
Issue: 7641 / Categories: Features , Freedom of Information
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Mark Lewis & Anna Brooks-Gallerani discuss freedom of speech & the privacy of individuals

In two recent speeches, Lord Neuberger (the President of the Supreme Court) remarked that “astonishing developments in IT”—the speed of global communications and the ease with which words can be secretly recorded and doctored—may make it inevitable that the law on privacy and communications may have to be reconsidered.

With three billion internet users worldwide, Lord Neuberger noted that the internet presents both unprecedented opportunities for free speech but also unprecedented opportunities for encroachment on individuals’ Art 8 right to private and family life.

He queried whether anonymous speech on the internet is even capable of protection in the internet age. This view flowed from Author of a Blog v Times Newspapers Limited [2009] EWHC 1358 (QB), [2009] All ER (D) 155 (Jun) which established that blogging could not be protected under UK privacy law because it is an essentially public rather than a private activity. Lord Neuberger noted that this decision could be applied in future judgments in

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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
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority 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
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
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