Critically discuss the impact of the Human Rights Act 1998 on the development of privacy law
Lecture of essay question description:
‘Privacy and human rights law This lecture charts the emergence of the law on privacy which received a significant stimulus from the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA). We will explore the HRA, incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and we will specifically discuss the relevance of Article 8 of the Convention. We will review relevant case law according greater protection to privacy.’
What is private?
Privacy is an elastic concept: issue has become much more complicated in the celebrity era in which many celebrities make a living from revelations about their private life.
Example: Big Brother celebrity Jade Goody making money from
revelations about her terminal illness.
Law tries to assess whether something is private objectively, i.e. from the viewpoint of the reasonable person.
Categories of information considered private are virtually limitless: e.g. sex life, health and medical treatment, content of private diaries, wedding photographs, pictures of the inside of someone’s home, etc, but also controversially photos of the ‘off-duty’ celebrity/public figure in a public place.
Privacy protects the autonomy, dignity and self-esteem of the person.
Essential books and links:
Carey, P. (2010) Media Law (5th edition).
Barendt, E. et al. (1997) Libel and the Media: The Chilling Effect
Keller, P. (2011) European and International Media Law: Liberal Democracy, Trade, and the New Media.
https://www.guardian.co.uk/law/defamation-law
Journals: Communications Law, Journal of Media Law
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