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PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE - HARASSMENT – COURSE OF CONDUCT AMOUNTING TO HARASSMENT – WHETHER SERIES OF PUBLICATIONS IN NEWSPAPER CONSTITUTING HARASSMENT – FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION – FREEDOM OF THE PRESS – TEST TO DECIDE WHETHER PROPOSED SERIES OF PUBLICATIONS LIKELY TO CAUSE DISTRESS TO AN INDIVIDUAL WOULD CONSTITUTE HARASSMENT – PROTECTION FROM HARASSMENT ACT 1997, SS 1, 3 – EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, ART 10.
Notes
This was a civil case brought under Section 3 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. The claimant had alleged that the Sun newspapers had published a series of articles which, owing to their racist nature, had caused her harassment.
The judge ruled that the claimant had been harassed. In general, press criticism could not be regarded as falling within the natural meaning of "harassment". Furthermore the freedom of the press is generally guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which was explicitly referred. to. However, such criticism could amount to harassment where, in cases such as this, the it had amounted to an abuse of the freedom of the press. In such cases, the courts were entitled to restrict freedom of expression exercised under Article 10.
This case states, then that generally the act is not be used against journalists although there will be occasions when it might be. You could use the case to say that activist publications or websites should not generally be the subject of prosecutions under the act. But where a publication incites or encourages harassment, then the case clearly establishes that this could constitute harassment.
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