Analysis of Campbell v Mirror Group Newspapers judgment Free Essay Example, 1500 words

The question is what a reasonable person of ordinary sensibilities would feel if she was placed in the same position as the claimant and faced the same publicity. ’4 The House of Lords went on to point out that Ms. Campbell complained that she felt a compulsion to discontinue her treatment when she read the articles. Marcus Turle notes that the House of Lords’ ruling makes it mandatory for the consideration of this kind of evidence in assessing the individual breach of privacy complained of. He said that ‘every case must intrinsically turn on its facts because one of the main determinants will be the physical and mental health of the claimant, as well as his or her public status or position. ’5 With this kind of guideline, each case will be determined on its own merits and special circumstances. In order for the courts to function realistically it is necessary for them to maintain a measure of flexibility, as cases are rarely exactly the same. 6 The difficult arises when there are those who wish to hide behind the privacy issue in order to mute ‘some uncomfortable truths – truths which, in the interests of our democratic way of life, should be exposed. ’7 The media should be entitled to expose these truths. We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis of Campbell v Mirror Group Newspapers judgment or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now However, there will be times when the media abuses this right to expose truths and Turle is of the opinion that the consequences of the Campbell ruling by the House of Lords is the provision of a good safeguard against this type of unjustified intrusive media coverage. 8 The House of Lords readily acknowledged that unlike the United States of America, the United Kingdom does not have the exhaustive protection against invasion of privacy and remedies in respect of breaches thereof. However, with the passing into law of the Human Rights Act 1998, there has been ‘protection of various aspects of privacy’ which until recently ‘is a fast developing area of the law. ’9 Lord Nicholls of Brickenhead, summed up the importance of the Campbell decision in the context of developing the laws relating to privacy within the United Kingdom when delivering the opinion of the House of Lords. Lord Nicholls noted that the European Convention on Human Rights as well as the Strasbourg jurisprudence has been the primary influence in the British Courts with regards to this area of the law. However, the overlapping of Articles 8 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights ‘have prompted the courts of this country to identify more clearly the different factors involved in cases where one or other of these two interests is present. ’10 There is no doubt that the two articles contemplate interests of others that are diametrically opposed.