Human rights

Rights arising under Art 8 (right to private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights on the one hand and Art 10 (freedom of expression) on the other were different in quality. Article 8 rights were by their nature of crucial importance to a few, while Art 10 rights were typically of general importance to many. The decided cases, together with s 12(4) of the Human Rights Act 1998, acted as a strong reminder that the rights of the many should not be undervalued and incrementally eroded in response to a series of hard cases of individual misfortune. On the other hand, there was no hierarchy of rights and there were cases where individual rights had to prevail. In highly exceptional cases that could even include making inroads into the fundamental right to report criminal proceedings, but only where that was absolutely necessary.