Media law is ever changing and this index will strive to keep you abreast of developments in this complex and important area of journalism.
Our fortnightly column looking at the latest law issues, written by specialist media lawyers from Foot Anstey, also appears here.
Two 14-year-olds who committed a series of horrific burglaries putting theirvictims in fear of their lives have been named in the Bolton Evening News. Reporter Paul Britton prepared a letter to hand to the Crown Court judge toback up his
Legal action has begun against national newspapers and picture agencies which used an exclusive front page Grimsby Telegraph photo of murdered Luke Walmsley, who was stabbed to death at school. The Telegraph has consulted lawyers and sent letters to the
A newspaper has inadvertently named a rape victim in a court trial report. The error happened in an Epsom Guardian report during the trial of a male nurse accused of raping a patient. The naming occurred in the ninth paragraph
The identity of two teenage sisters who have been terrorising people in Basingstoke have been revealed – thanks to The Basingstoke Gazette. It succeeded in getting magistrates to agree to lift reporting restrictions on the sisters, aged 17 and 15,
A training course to help editors and newspaper executives keep up to date with the law is to take place in London. The programme for November 14 is due to cover the Human Rights Act, libel, contempt of court, the
The Manchester Evening News is writing to Home Secretary David Blunkett after a court refused to consider an application to name a 17-year-old in court for dangerous driving. The youth almost killed a 67-year-old lollipop lady and left a young
A reporter from the Halifax Evening Courier successfully challenged an order banning the naming of a young crime victim – while his former law lecturer looked on. Reporter Leigh Dowd (pictured) challenged a Section 39 order which had been imposed
A teenage thug has been unmasked in the South Wales Evening Post after the paper persuaded a judge to remove reporting restrictions. Recorder Keith Thomas agreed that people had the right to know the identity of the 17-year-old, despite her
The Manchester Evening News has won its court fight to name a teenager whose driving left a boy paralysed and almost killed a lollipop lady. The paper showed Sajid Hussain’s face on its front page after previously pixelating his features
A libel action against the Press and Journal in Aberdeen has been settled out of court. Scottish company Quantum Claims Compensation Specialists, and director Frank Lefevre, had raised a £75,000 action against the paper at the Court of Session in
A reporter on the weekly West Cumberland Times & Star in Workington successfully challenged a section 39 order to allow publication of the name of a teenager involved in an animal torture case which made national news. It was a
The identity of a Bristol teenager, who faces at least 11 years in jail after being found guilty of murder, has been made public after the Evening Post persuaded a judge to remove his anonymity. The Bristol Evening Post successfully
The Grimsby Telegraph has won the right to name a teenager who has been made the subject of Grimsby’s first full anti-social behaviour order. Following a plea from Telegraph deputy editor Nigel Lowther, magistrates at Grimsby Youth Court agreed to
The Bath Chronicle has scored a legal victory, winning the right to name a school at the centre of an abduction case. The paper had been following the case of a teacher who has been sentenced to five months in
Two 15-year-old boys have been named by the Bolton Evening News after a Crown Court judge heard from one of its reporters. The boys, who had committed three street robberies including one where another boy was threatened with a screwdriver,
A reporter who stood up in court to challenge a media ban on naming the defendant has won the right to publish. Carl Walker questioned Jersey magistrates about their decision to place a blanket ban on identifying a woman who