Privacy complaint

Mr Max Mosley’s claim that English law does not offer sufficient protection for claimants in privacy cases has been declared admissible by the European Court of Human Rights. He claims that English law does not go far enough to protect the privacy rights of individuals and businesses. The European court held that the claim was admissible in principle and on the merits. The UK government has until February to respond on the question of both admissibility and on the substance of the application. The complaint is that English law only provides the remedies after the event and offers claimants inadequate protection for the purposes of art 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Individuals and businesses involved in privacy claims have no right to prior notification before the publication of an article or broadcast of a programme about them. It is argued that the media organisation should be under an obligation to notify potential claimants and give them an opportunity to seek injunctions before publication and that the UK is thus failing to guarantee art 8 privacy rights.