The Third Thursday lecture series for 2009 has opened with a debate on media law and privacy, introduced by Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, Richard Keen QC.

Alistair Clark QC, speaking at the lecture, said that the law of privacy was among the most fascinating aspects of modern practice because it has only been within the last decade that its fundamental principles in its present-day form have been developed and applied.

“That is of course largely because its key components are to be found in the Human Rights Act 1998. Its juridical nature is also interesting and it has a compelling novelty and modernity, but often the cases are of interest simply because of their own facts," he said.

"As the cases demonstrate, what is now at the heart of the legal test is which Convention right – that to freedom of expression or that to protection of private life – should, on balance and on the facts of the particular case, outweigh the other. What the cases show is that if there is a strong and clear public interest in the subject matter, it can be difficult to establish that the right to privacy should prevail, especially in a commercial context. On the other hand, when one is dealing with children or vulnerable young people, and there is no compelling public interest dimension, the application has much better prospects of success.”

“It should of course be noted that “public interest” doesn’t mean something in which the public are interested; rather it means something which advances a debate of genuine public importance.”