ABSTRACT
This is an area of law which is becoming highly controversial, not least as ‘celebrities’ seek to invoke some form of law of privacy so as to control their exposure in the media and maintain a favourable impression of themselves in the minds of the public. UK case law maintains that there is no right of privacy as such in domestic law, even after the Human Rights Act. Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights creates a right to respect for an individual’s private life, home and correspondence, which may be limited or even abrogated altogether on the grounds stated in Art 8(2), but that is not of itself a right of privacy. Application of Art 8 also requires a balancing act with the right to freedom of expression guaranteed by Art 10, which is particularly significant where the press is alleged to have breached an individual’s ‘right to privacy’.
