Tag: Anonymity

In this case the Court of Appeal upheld a Crown Court judge's decision to make an excepting direction allowing the reporting of a child defendant's in relation to a murder conviction at the conclusion of the proceedings. The judgment shows the reluctance of the higher courts to interfere with a balancing exercise carried out by Crown Court Judges where the reasoning cannot be said to be wrong in law.

The High Court considered a Judicial Review regarding pre charge anonymity for children in criminal proceedings.

The Court of Appeal upheld the decision to lift reporting restrictions in a case involving a 16 year old defendant.

Three individuals admitted contempt of court for publishing information about Thompson and Venables in breach of an injunction and were sentenced to suspended custodial sentences.

XW v XH [2018] EWFC 44 A well known businessman, whose products are used by millions globally, was petitioned for divorce by his wife.  Despite there being a public interest in the judgment, it was anonymised and redacted mainly to protect the privacy of the couple’s particularly vulnerable child, who would have been harmed by the […]

NT1 and NT2 and Google LLC [2018] EWHC 799 (QB)  Two businessmen (NT1 and NT2) brought unrelated claims to the High Court about their rights to be forgotten by Google. Both claimants had spent convictions and, having had their requests for the removal of related search results by Google refused, they resorted to legal action. NT1’s […]

This case is the most recent in an increasingly long line of authorities considering the UK’s international obligations to victims of trafficking who are forced to commit crimes integral to their trafficked status. The obligations derive from the Council of European Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings 2005, and from the EU Directive 2011/36 on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, and are now reflected in the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

In 2009 parties A and B were convicted of offences which caused public outrage. The original case was known as the ‘Eddlington’ case. The case brought before Sir Geoffrey Vos in the High Court was an application for a permanent order restraining the press and all other persons from publishing A and Bs names or identities following their 18th birthdays. There are limited cases of this nature therefore the outcome and the clarification of points relating to human rights and public protection are important.

The anonymity of children has been protected in two recent high profile cases, highlighting the increasing recognition by courts of the impact media has on children’s welfare.

The Judicial College have published their updated Reporting Restrictions in the Criminal Courts. The guidance by the Judicial College, Media Lawyers Association, News Media Association and Society of Editors was published in April 2015 (and revised in May 2016).

On 7th April 2016, Mr Justice Globe of Leeds Crown Court passed sentences on two girls, F and D, convicted of the murder of Angela Wrightson. In his decision, Justice Globe also had to consider whether to grant anonymity to F and D following an application by the media to lift reporting restrictions preventing identification of the girls.