ABSTRACT

This chapter examines how the case law of the European Court of Human Rights on Article 6 of the Convention (the right to a fair trial) has been depicted in the UK media. Through an analysis of contemporaneous press coverage of numerous leading cases against the UK for alleged breaches of Article 6, it finds a remarkable difference in treatment of such cases. It appears that the nature of the claimant, and whether that can be used to perpetuate ideas of the Convention as a ‘villains’ charter’, is a better predictor of press coverage than the potential impact of the decision on cherished principles of common law criminal procedure.