ABSTRACT
All statutes affecting freedom of expression and media freedom will therefore have to be interpreted so as to be in harmony with the Convention if that is at all possible. Under s 6 of the HRA, Convention guarantees are binding only against public authorities. These are defined as bodies which have a partly public function. The definition is therefore quite wide, but probably means that private bodies, including most of the media (apart from the ‘public bodies’, such as the BBC, Independent Television Commission (to be replaced by Ofcom) and the Press Complaints Commission) can violate Convention rights unless a part of the common law, which will also be interpreted in conformity with the Convention, bears on the matter.
