The issue of media access to court papers came up in the memorably-titled Bouncylagoon case, which concerned a BBC journalist’s application for access to skeleton arguments and other court documents.
Access to electronic copies of the skeleton was granted by the First-tier Tribunal (Tax), although access to the hearing bundle on the facts of the case was refused. Andrew Fremlin-Key, senior associate at Withers, covers the case from various angles, in this week’s NLJ.
Fremlin-Key writes: ‘This relatively short decision serves as a strong warning to practitioners against assuming that an early procedural hearing cannot lead to interest and attention from the press and/or requests for documents from inquisitive journalists looking to generate news stories. Lawyers will need to consider their clients’ position and advise them accordingly on the balance of information that is included in court documents.’
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