We know better than the courts

Abstract

The chairman of the Press Complaints Commission argues vigorously against legislation on privacy and intrusion. He writes: "Statutory regulation is objectionable in principle and incompatible with a properly functioning democracy. (I would be ready to bet that one of these days the State will get out of the business of regulating content in television and radio; and that an expanded system of self-regulation will cover all forms of content delivery.) There are also practical problems. When I became the Prime Minister's press secretary in 1994, the first thing I found in my in-tray was a draft White Paper proposing a Privacy Bill. After innumerable redrafts, it foundered on the intractable problem of defining where private space met public interest; and on the political objection to passing a law from which only those who could afford the legal bills would benefit. None of these objections has gone away."