Journalistic material meaning

Awbury Technical Solutions LLC v Karson Management (Bermuda) Ltd [2019] EWHC 233 (Comm) What are the practical implications of this case? This decision explores the interaction between section 12(3) of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) and applications for interim injunctions to restrain the use of confidential information in a commercial setting. Although Butcher J did not foreclose the possibility that, in a business context, such relief might amount to an interference with freedom of expression, his judgment indicates that will seldom be so. In particular, where the communication serves only to advance the communicator’s financial interests, is directed to a very small group of recipients, and there is no suggestion that the material is journalistic, literary or artistic, the right to freedom of expression will generally not be engaged. The decision also appears to be the first in England and Wales to consider the impact on the court’s application of the American Cyanamid test in circumstances where the parties had previously agreed that an injunction would be...

Remedies for misuse of private information and breach of confidence This Practice Note concentrates on the relief available where private information has been misused—whether through an actual or threatened publication, or by the manner in which personal information was obtained—and for breaches of confidence involving the disclosure of personal information. The principal forms of relief are damages and injunctions. Because the law in this field embraces a broad spectrum of factual circumstances, courts take a supple, case-sensitive approach to remedies. Thus, in one set of facts, the most effective way to vindicate the claimant’s privacy may be an injunction restraining an anticipated disclosure; in another, the defendant may already have disclosed the material without authority and derived a commercial gain. In that scenario, suitable relief may include compensatory damages or an order for an account of profits, together with an injunction stopping any further dissemination and directions for delivery up or destruction of the private and/or confidential information at issue. Accordingly, remedies are tailored to the circumstances, ensuring privacy...

The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA 2016) IPA 2016 sits at the heart of the statutory regime that regulates covert surveillance undertaken by public authorities. Historically, much of this regime—though not all—was housed in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA 2000). The rules addressing powers to interfere with equipment and property are contained in IPA 2016, Pt 5. These operate alongside the powers available to the intelligence agencies (GCHQ, MI5 and SIS) under sections 5 and 7 of the Intelligence Services Act 1994. Under IPA 2016, s 13, the intelligence services must secure an equipment interference warrant to obtain communications, private information or equipment data where, without such a warrant, the conduct would constitute an offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and there is a British Islands connection. The Home Office has published a Code of Practice on Equipment Interference relating to the exercise of functions conferred by IPA 2016, Pt 5 and Pt 6, Ch 3, and it is essential reading for all lawyers...

This Practice Note examines the status and deployment of confidential information in civil proceedings, covering what amounts to confidential information, how it can be safeguarded, and the circumstances in which confidentiality may be lost. It also considers disclosure duties concerning confidential material, methods to protect such material from disclosure, inspection and citation in open court, disclosure for restricted purposes, confidentiality rings, reliance on confidential and covertly obtained information, receipt of confidential material by mistake, and the friction with other jurisdictions’ disclosure rules. What is confidential information? Information regarded as confidential includes: personal (or private) information trade secrets journalistic, artistic or literary confidences government secrets court-ordered settlement agreements requiring non-disclosure information specifically identified by contract as restricted password-protected email accounts documents generated within the solicitor–client relationship (Anderson v Bank of British Columbia) documents that may be relevant to criminal proceedings either ongoing or expected in the future Note that although all privileged material must be...