United Kingdom

[GB] Court of Appeal Rules on Journalists' Sources Case

IRIS 1997-10:1/10

David Goldberg

deeJgee Research/Consultancy

The principle that the media should be able to protect the anonymity of its sources of information is accepted as an important principle in the English courts justified by the test of public interest. However, although great weight is given to European Court of Human Rights cases with facts similar to the facts before the domestic court, a "relevant but not conclusive factor" which might outweigh the general principle is the "wish of a betrayed employer to identify the disloyal employee so as to exclude him from future employment."