R v Robert Norman [2016] EWCA Crim 1564 (20 October 2016)
A Court of Appeal (England and Wales) case involving the protection of journalist sources and the interplay of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (Freedom of Expression). Facts arising out of the phone hacking scandal*, involving the voluntary disclosure of information about journalists’ sources by newspaper owners to the Metropolitan Police in London. Arguably the newspaper owners were co-operating with the police in order to avoid or reduce their own culpability arising out of the behaviour of some journalists in obtaining information for tabloid press stories, including payment of money to sources for that information. This disclosure led to the criminal prosecution of numerous public officials, in this case a prison officer at High Security prison HMP Belmarsh. The Court of Appeal rejected the Appellants case, stating the way in which his identity had been disclosed to the police was an abuse of process as the police had merely acted on information provided voluntarily by the newspaper owners. The appellant claimed that he had an individual right to confidentiality as a source under Article 10 but this was also rejected by the court, primarily on the basis that his confidentiality as a source was tainted by the corrupt payments he received. The case highlights the urgent need for a specific law on source protection in the UK (for more discussion on this issue see the IALS report
‘Protecting Sources and Whistleblowers in a Digital Age’ ). This case also discusses the UK offence of Misconduct in Public Office.
* See
Leveson Inquiry, for more on phone hacking scandals and for the background to the police operations Weeting and Eleveden which resulted in numerous criminal prosecutions of public officials.