EU & HR Seen Questions - Essay Example

The purpose of this paper is to study the acts impacts on privacy issues and other controversies related to the UK Human Rights Act of 1998. One of the first cases that spark controversy related to this act involved The Times and a convicted murder Lee Clegg. Lee Clegg was a military officer convicted of murdering a teenage joy rider in 1993 for which he served a two and half year sentence before been cleared by the courts of the charges (BBC, 2000). While the soldier was in prison the newspaper followed a protest of people campaigning for the release of Mr.

Clegg and later published an article. The lawyer of Lee Clegg did not like the newspaper involvement and suit them for libel, a civil suit which Mr. Clegg won. The Times claimed they were within their rights to publish the story, but the court decision was based on the fact the activity was a private meeting which did not provide them with the rights reporters have of writing and voicing their opinions of public events. In this case the Human Rights Act of 1998 ruled in favor of an individual over the press and allowed this person to earn a significant cash award of over $100,000.

The ruling created a precedent which would open the door for the utilization of the Act for other judicial purposes. Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998 involves the right to respect for private and family life. Article 8(2) stipulates that there shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except as in accordance with this law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interest of national security, public safety, or economic well being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of rights or freedoms of others (Opsi, 1998).

Article 8 protects intrusion into the private life of individuals, a