Davenport Lyons successfully advises Mirror Group Newspaper: Recoverable Success Fees Violate Right to Freedom of Speech
18 Jan 2011
Comment from Kevin Bays, who has acted for MGN Ltd since the beginning of its dispute with Naomi Campbell: “In its judgment published today, the European Court of Human Rights unanimously found that the English system of Conditional Fee Agreements – which permits success fees to be recovered from the losing party – is deeply flawed and violated the Daily Mirror’s right to free speech. This finding was made following the reference to Europe of the 2004 decision of the House of Lords in Naomi Campbell’s privacy claim against the Daily Mirror. The model had entered into a Conditional Fee Agreement with her solicitors and Counsel in relation to her appeal to the House of Lords.
“When Ms Campbell won the appeal the terms of the Conditional Fee Agreement provided that in addition to her lawyers’ normal costs the Daily Mirror had to pay success fees reaching six figures. The Strasbourg Court has now decided that the obligation on the newspaper to pay these success fees fell outside the margin of appreciation afforded to a government in implementing social and economic policies and contravened Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
“In the same judgment the Court also found that the majority (3 – 2) decision of the House of Lords in the Campbell case to the effect that the Mirror had misused her private information was not a violation of the newspaper’s right to freedom of expression. The European Court of Human Rights (by a majority of 6 – 1) determined that it was open to the House of Lords to find that Naomi Campbell’s privacy rights had been infringed by the publication of details of her treatment for drug addiction in 2001
“The decision simply confirms what the media has been saying for years – recoverable success fees are totally disproportionate and a violation of the right to freedom of speech. It’s a pity there has had to be a public finding of a breach of human rights before the Government scraps the current deeply flawed CFA regime.”
