A Local Authority v W: children's privacy and press freedom in criminal cases

Rachel Taylor, Tutor and Penningtons Student in Law, Christ Church, Oxford. This commentary considers the decision of the House of Lords in Re S (A Child) (Identification: Restrictions on Publication) [2004] UKHL 47, [2005] 1 AC 593, [2005] 1 FLR 591. The decision is important both for its approach to children's privacy and press freedom and in its wider implications for the application of the Human Rights Act 1998 to conflicting rights in horizontal cases. While the parallel analysis adopted by the House of Lords is welcomed, this commentary raises concerns that its application in Re S fails to give sufficient consideration to the specific rights claimed. It is argued that the President's approach to similar issues in A Local Authority v W, L, W, T and R [2005] EWHC 1564 (Fam), [2006] 1 FLR 1 is more sensitive to the factual context and better reflects the reasoning behind the parallel analysis. See Child and Family Law Quarterly, Vol 18, No 2, 2006 for the full article.

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