The Cost of Privacy?
The case of Campbell v Mirror (EC find out name) attracted media attention not least because it involved a supermodel and raised some interesting issues regarding privacy. There is no tort of privacy and cases which are litigated often involve high profile parties who it is said, are the only people who can afford to take such issues to trial. The issue in this case was precisely this, the defendants when faced with a huge bill from the models solicitors argued that no-win-no-fee arrangements infringed their free speech under Art 10 European Convention of Human Rights.

This was a clever and interesting argument, not least because in the absence of a tort of privacy, the UK courts have had to balance the issue of Data Protection and the European Directive on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such with the right to free speech. Some commentators point to the difficulty that the courts face when faced with a choice between the European model which calls for a balance of competing values and the American model which gives a premium to free speech.


Free Speech

When faced with a £594,000 bill from Campbell’s solicitors, the defendants argued that the £280,000 success fee charged by her instructing solicitors infringed their free speech. The argument is well founded, albeit perhaps not from such a successful newspaper. If a smaller publication was faced with the same bill then this could seriously threaten their existence. There are many cases which have been forced to settle out of court to avoid precisely this.

The House of Lords observed that there was a difference between the use of CFA’s in defamation cases and personal injury cases. Liability insurers can bear the risk of cases being lost whilst the same cannot be said for small publishers.

The Daily Mirror can take some hope from the fact that the bill presented by Campbells solicitors will be subject to detailed assessment and as it seems that the courts have adopted the European model, they will surely observe the doctrine of proportionality. Campbell recovered £3,500 in damages whilst her solicitors fees were in excess of £1 million.