Max Mosley privacy case being 'fast tracked'

The European Court of Human Rights is fast-tracking the case brought by Max Mosley to tighten UK privacy laws, the Independent claims today.

Lawyer Mark Stephens, who is acting for a group of media and free speech organisations opposing Mosley in court, believes that the pace with which it is proceeding suggests that the judges are about to rule in the former Formula One boss's favour.

The Independent says: "That would mean a change in the law that would force the press to contact anyone that they are intending to run a story about to warn them if it could potentially breach their privacy, giving public figures a chance to gag newspapers before publication."
The Culture Media and Sport committe in its report on press standards, privacy and libel, which was published this week recommended that the Press Complaints Commission should amend the Code of Practice to include a requirement that journalists should normally notify the subject of their articles prior to publication, subject to a "public interest" test.
On the News of the World's revelations about Mosley's sex life, the committee said: "We found the News of the World editor's attempts to justify the Max Mosley story on 'public interest' grounds wholly unpersuasive, although we have no doubt the public was interested in it."