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16 March 2007 / Kate Wilson , Kate Wilson , Rupert Elliott
Issue: 7426 / Categories: Features , Fraud , Data protection
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The new black

Kate Wilson and Rupert Elliott explain why claims for misuse of private information have never been so fashionable

December proved a busy time in the evolving law of privacy, with two Court of Appeal decisions, McKennitt v Ash [2006] EWCA Civ 1714, [2006] All ER (D) 200 (Dec) and Prince of Wales v Associated Newspapers [2006] EWCA Civ 1776, [2006] All ER (D) 335 (Dec), and an interim injunction granted to protect a celebrity adulterer, CC v AB [2006] EWHC 3083 (QB), [2006] All ER (D) 39 (Dec).

The approach to determining claims for privacy or misuse of private information is now well-established as a two-stage process, incorporating the jurisprudence of Arts 8 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention). First the claimant must show that he has a reasonable expectation of privacy in the information concerned, Campbell v MGN [2004] UKHL 22, [2004] 2 AC 457 (para 21). Once this threshold is crossed, the parties’ competing Art 8 and 10 rights must be weighed

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Harper James—Lottie Hugo

Harper James—Lottie Hugo

Commercial law firm announces appointment of corporate partner

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joins corporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

NEWS
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A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
The winners of the LexisNexis Legal Awards 2026 have now been announced, marking another outstanding celebration of excellence, innovation, and impact across the legal profession
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
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