Libel success fees in the Naomi Campbell privacy case were a breach of the media’s right to free expression, the European Court of Human Rights ruled this afternoon.

Libel success fees in the Naomi Campbell privacy case were a breach of the media’s right to free expression, the European Court of Human Rights ruled this afternoon.

Mirror Group Newspapers complained to the ECtHR that having to pay £500,000 in base costs and success fees to the supermodel for breaching her confidentiality, following two appeals to the House of Lords, was a violation of article 10.

However, the Strasbourg court did not overturn the law lords’ ruling that there had been a breach of confidentiality.

In a judgment heavily influenced by criticisms of conditional fees in Lord Justice Jackson’s report, the ECtHR said that the Ministry of Justice had recognised that recoverable success fees had resulted in an ...

Jean Yves

IICJ

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