Privacy tort
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Wednesday, May 28th, 2008Earlier this year, the Law Commission released its Review of the Law of Privacy. It’s well worth a read. It demonstrates what a nebulous and problematic concept privacy is. The review is part of a four-stage inquiry into the whole gamut of privacy laws, including the Privacy Act, public registers, the tort, and other privacy-related laws. […]
How the Clean Slate Act applies to the media
Tuesday, May 20th, 2008The Clean Slate Act effectively expunges people’s old, minor criminal offences. But does that mean the media can’t publish them? Reading the Act as a whole, it looks like it doesn’t. Yes, it’s an offence for a journalist to ask someone to disregard the Act, which allows people to lie about particular convictions if they […]
JK Rowling and the Chamber of Secrets
Sunday, May 11th, 2008Actually, it’s not a chamber that she’s looking to keep secret. It’s a photograph on the open street. She’s sued over the publication of some paparazzi photos of her and her husband on a street pushing a baby buggy containing David, their 19-month old baby. And the UK Court of Appeal has just ruled that they […]
A tragic comment
Thursday, April 24th, 2008Perhaps Objectivist Lindsay Perigo is within his rights to complain about the “media ghouls’” lack of respect for the dignity of the Mangatepopo canyoning victims’ families and friends. But he’s drawing a long bow to blame the invasion of privacy (and the subjects’ willingness to succumb to it) on his all-purpose whipping boy, “statism”: It is testament to […]
HC overturns BSA privacy decision
Sunday, March 16th, 2008Last August, the BSA upheld a complaint from Dr Stephanie du Fresne, the medical director of a mental health clinic, about an interview with one of her committed patients conducted without the clinic’s knowledge. TV3 News interviewed the woman about her electric shock treatment, which she didn’t want. The story revealed that she was bipolar […]
Highlights from Press Council forum
Sunday, March 16th, 2008Top 10 most interesting points from Thursday’s public forum, “The Press and the Right to Know Under Siege”, where the speakers were Law Commissioner John Burrows QC and the chairs of the Australian and NZ Press Councils, Professor Ken McKinnon and Barry Paterson QC: Barry Paterson, a retired High Court judge, “hated TV in the […]
Media gagged on Health Board report
Friday, February 29th, 2008The Director-General of Health has won an injunction preventing media publication of a draft report into the conflict of interest at the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board. The Herald is reporting that the court order also requires the media to deliver up any copies they may hold. The Dominion Post reports: But last night the Crown […]
New Law Commission report on privacy out
Thursday, February 14th, 2008Get your copy here. It’s an early stage in the Commissions Herculian project aimed at reviewing the entire law of privacy. In this study paper they look at the big picture: the concepts behind privacy, and the effect of the rapidly changing social, legal and technological environment. (I’m part of a reference group that the […]
Tribute to John Burrows
Thursday, February 7th, 2008The University of Canterbury’s law school held a conference in honour of John Burrows last weekend. It was called “Law, Liberty and Legislation” and covered the broad sweep of issues that Professor Burrows has expertise in – from statute and contract law to media law (he’s written the leading texts in all three). On the […]
Eady listening
Monday, January 28th, 2008So, the law of privacy is largely settled now, David Eady was telling me on Friday. (Heads-up: this is a brazen name-drop, and you are supposed to be suitably impressed by it. David Eady is Justice Eady, the British High Court judge who hears most of the media law cases. He’s also co-author – with Victoria law school’s […]
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