Law:

Section:

(a) Fundamental Rights---.------.----Right to private and family life---.---Scope---.---Open justice, principle of---.---Scope---.---Media reporting of judicial proceedings---.---Confidential information disclosing identity of an accused-claimant---.---Injunction---.---Balance between claimant's right to private and family life and right of media to freedom of expression and public interest in open justice---.---Several accused persons were arrested on suspicion of serious offences of child abuse---.---Claimant , who was one of the accused, was arrested simply because one of the victims had told the police that she had been abused by a man with the same, very common, first name as the claimant---.---Claimant was subsequently released on bail---.---Other accused persons were charged and their trial was conducted throughout in open court, whereas, the claimant, who was neither a witness nor a party, was protected by the trial judge's order (under the Contempt of Court Act 1981) prohibiting any disclosure which might identify him as the subject of pending criminal proceedings until he was charged---.---Trial attracted considerable media attention and two newspapers, wishing to publish information identifying the claimant as a person suspected of involvement in the subject matter of the police investigation who had been arrested, bailed and then released from arrest, unsuccessfully sought the discharge of the non-disclosure order---.---Majority of those tried were convicted, while, the claimant, who could not be identified by the victim during an identification parade, was released from arrest without charge---.---Although claimant's case was kept under review there was no reason to believe that he would ever be charged with an offence---.---Newspapers again applied to the trial judge to lift the non-disclosure order on the ground that there were no longer pending or imminent proceedings against the claimant which could be prejudiced by publication---.---Claimant immediately applied to the High Court for an interim injunction restraining publication, on the basis that it was necessary to protect him against the misuse of private information and the infringement of…