UK media looking to overturn European privacy ruling

The UK website The Lawyer is reporting a lobbying effort to have an important privacy ruling appealed.

UK press in-housers fight privacy ruling - 9 August 2004:

"Associated Newspapers' head of legal is attempting to mobilise the UK media to back lobbying efforts aimed at convincing the German government to appeal the controversial Princess Caroline decision to the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

...

The case revolves around photographs of Princess Caroline of Monaco that were published in German magazines.

The landmark judgment handed down by the ECHR in Von Hanover v Germany on 24 June 2004 has caused uproar among UK media lawyers, who feel that the decision imposes a privacy law on European states and hampers the freedom of the press.

Tench's petition has two main points. The first is that EU member states should have the power to enforce a lower degree of privacy than that required by the court. The second is that the European Convention on Human Rights governs the relationship between a state and its citizens, not private companies. "

According to reports, Germany has declined to appeal the decision. (The BBC report also has a nice, concise summary of the issues.)