ABSTRACT

This article seeks to defend the emergent consensus that suspects should be entitled to anonymity until charge and that the tort of misuse of private information (‘MPI') is the appropriate action to protect this right. It systematically addresses Nicole Moreham’s argument, in this journal, that breach of confidence, rather than MPI, should ground such claims, and that the case law to date risks awarding damages for harm to an undeserved reputation. The authors argue that multiple sources of law and theoretical accounts of privacy confirm this information is properly treated as private. In contrast, breach of confidence would provide an inadequate remedy. In response to the concerns on reputational harm, it argues that, in practical terms, the tort of defamation need not be undermined, as claimed. It further contends that the presumption of innocence can act as a guiding light in resolving the problems raised at the level of principle.

摘要

本文旨在捍卫这一新兴共识，即嫌疑人应有权在被指控之前匿名，并且滥用私人信息（“MPI”）的侵权行为是保护这一权利的适当行动。它系统地解决了 Nicole Moreham 在本期刊中的论点，即违反信任而不是 MPI 应该以此类索赔为依据，并且迄今为止的判例法有可能因损害不当声誉而判给损害赔偿。作者认为，多种法律来源和隐私理论说明证实了这些信息被适当地视为私人信息。相反，违反保密规定将提供不充分的补救措施。针对对名誉损害的担忧，它认为，实际上，诽谤侵权不需要像声称的那样受到损害。