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On 12 April 2018, the French Government became the tenth High Contracting Party to ratify Protocol 16 to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and thus triggered the entry into force of the Protocol that establishes a referral mechanism between the national courts and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). As the preamble states, the extension of the ECtHR’s competence to give advisory opinions will further enhance the interaction between the ECtHR and national authorities, and thereby reinforce the implementation of the ECHR, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity Under...

On the 9 February 2018, the High Court overturned a finding by the Circuit Court in favour of a former local election candidate, in the first “right to be forgotten” case in Ireland concerning internet postings. In 2014, an election candidate, Mark Savage, had objected to a thread on a website, Reddit.com, describing him as a “homophobic candidate.” Reddit.com is an online discussion website. A contributor to the website called “Soupynorman” had uploaded Mr Savage’s election leaflet which referred inter alia to “gay perverts cavorting in flagrante on the beach in broad daylight” and stated that...

On 1 March 2018, the UK Government announced its decision to formally close the Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press pursuant to section 14(1)(b) of the Inquiries Act 2005. As a result of the emerging scandal of “phone hacking” by the News of the World, a two-part inquiry was ordered in November 2011 by the then Prime Minister David Cameron. Chaired by Lord Justice Leveson, part one examined the relationship of the press with the public, police and politicians. It commenced its hearings in November 2011 and ended in July 2012, culminating with the publication of the Leveson...

On 22 February 2018, Mr Justice Arnold of the High Court awarded GBP 20 000 in damages to Shakir Ali and Shanida Aslam (the Claimants) against Channel 5 Broadcast Limited (Channel 5), for breaching the Claimants’ privacy and not satisfactorily obtaining their consent to be filmed for the reality television show Can’t Pay? We’ll Take It Away (CPWTIA). The series is made by Brinkworth Films Ltd (BFL) with broadcaster Channel 5 having final editorial responsibility. CPWTIA follows Direct Collection Bailiffs Ltd (DCBL) as they enforce court judgments against debtors and eviction orders against tenants...

The Austrian government coalition between the People’s Party (ÖVP) and the Freedom Party (FPÖ), which has been in power since the last parliamentary elections, has included a number of issues relevant to media law in its coalition agreement; notably, both parties are keen to promote technical innovation in the form of digitisation as well as traditional media policy measures to support the country’s media. As far as digitisation is concerned, the coalition partners are pursuing a comprehensive research strategy with a treaty on research, technology and innovation, along with measures to improve...