'Stealth' privacy law in UK

Britain has established a privacy law by stealth which has made inroads into all parts of society, a leading human rights law review shows.

The use of legal arguments based on the claimant's right to a private life were once almost exclusively restricted to cases brought by celebrities against newspaper groups, but just two of the 28 privacy court cases reported in the past year had any connection with the traditional battle between high-profile individuals and the media.

The trend was highlighted by Debbie Purdy, a terminally ill multiple sclerosis patient, who successfully argued that lack of clarity in the laws on assisted suicide violated her right to a private life.

Jonathan Cooper, barrister at London's Doughty Street Chambers and the editor of Sweet & Maxwell's European Human Rights Law Review, said the UK's legal system was "playing catch-up with other countries where the concept of privacy has been taken more seriously".

He added: "The absence of privacy rights has been a defect of UK law."

The growth in the number of legal areas using privacy arguments stems from Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which allows a broad definition of privacy and leaves open to challenge what constitutes a lawful interference into an individual's private life.

- INDEPENDENT