Mosley v News Group Newspapers Ltd
[2008] EWHC 1777 (QB)
Independent editorial summary — not the official judgment. Read the full judgment via the source link.
Ratio Decidendi
A person's sexual activities carried out in private between consenting adults ordinarily carry a reasonable expectation of privacy under Article 8, and covert surveillance or publication of them requires a genuine public interest justification made out on the evidence, not merely an unproven media assertion about the nature of the activity.
Facts
The News of the World published an article on 30 March 2008 under the headline 'F1 BOSS HAS SICK NAZI ORGY WITH 5 HOOKERS', reporting on a sado-masochistic party involving Mr Max Mosley, President of the FIA, and five women, based on covert video footage filmed by one of the participants at the newspaper's instigation. Mosley sued for breach of confidence and misuse of private information under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, denying that the event had any genuine 'Nazi' theme and arguing there was no public interest justification for either the clandestine filming or the publication.
Judgment Summary
Eady J found that the newspaper's central allegation -- that the event involved Nazi or concentration-camp role-play -- was not established on the evidence, including the video recording itself, so there was no public interest defence available to justify either the covert filming or the subsequent publication. He held that Mosley had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his sexual activities, and awarded him £60,000 in damages, while declining to award exemplary damages, since English law did not recognise them for this developing form of privacy action.
Key Quotes
"Nevertheless, one is usually on safe ground in concluding that anyone indulging in sexual activity is entitled to a degree of privacy – especially if it is on private property and between consenting adults (paid or unpaid)."
— Eady J(verbatim, verified against the judgment)
Subsequent Treatment
Cited in subsequent privacy cases involving sexual activity.
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