Privacy

In an application for interim relief before trial, which, if granted, might affect the exercise of the right to freedom of expression, s 12 of the Human Rights Act 1998 applied and no relief was to be granted so as to restrain publication before trial unless the court was satisfied that the applicant was likely to establish that publication should not be allowed. When considering whether the publication of information which was alleged to be private should be permitted, the court should first decide whether the information in question was private, that was whether the claimant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in respect of that information such that the claimant’s rights under Art 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights were engaged (stage 1). If yes, the court should then engage in a balancing exercise, weighing the Art 8 rights of the claimant against the Art 10 rights of the defendant (stage 2).

Relevant considerations included the attributes of the claimant, the nature of