press Freedom-United Kingdom

Legal Framework
There is no written constitution or comprehensive Bill of Rights; Britain's constitution is to be found partly in conventions and customs and partly in statute. The Act known as the Bill of Rights 1689 deals with the exercise of the royal prerogative and succession to the Crown.The British legal system provides some remedies to deal with human rights abuses. For instance, the remedy of 'habeas corpus' secures the individual's right to freedom from any unlawful or arbitrary detention.Parliament, however, has power to enact any law and change any previous law.There is no fundamental distinction between 'public law' and 'private law'. Any person can take proceedings against the Government or a local government authority to protect his or her legal rights and to obtain a remedy for any injury suffered.Britain has not generally codified its law and courts adopt a relatively strict and literal approach to the interpretation of statutes. The ratification of a treaty or international convention does not make it automatically part of the domestic law. Where necessary, the Government amends domestic law to bring it in line with the convention. Because of Britain's membership of the European Community, Community law is part of British law and takes precedence in the event of conflict between the two.

International Arrangements
Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not a legally binding document, the UN General Assembly adopted, in 1966, the 'International Covenant on Economic, Social and Political Rights' and the 'International Covenant on Civil and political Rights'. Britain ratified both covenants in 1976.Britain is bound by the Council of Europe's 1953 'European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms'. The Convention allows individual petitions against governments to the European Commission on Human Rights, if all possible domestic remedies have been exhausted. Since 1966 Britain has accepted the right of individual petition under the Convention and the compulsory jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights. The outcome of some cases has led to changes in British law to improve human rights, for example the abolition of corporal punishment in state schools and improved rights for prisoners.Britain is not a party to the Convention's Fourth Protocol (Freedom of Movement) because of inconsistency with some aspects of the United Kingdom immigration control system nor the Sixth Protocol (abolition of the death penalty).

Related provision for 'free Press"

Section 19 Freedom of Expression
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
(1) Restrictions include the official secrets, civil defamation, criminal libel, obscenity, sedition, incitement to racial hatred, and contempt of court.
(2) There are legal remedies against defamation. Fair comment on matters of public interest may be a defence. Proof that the alleged defamatory matter is true is also a defence. In the same way, frank discussion of sexual problems is not considered to be an infringement of the law on obscenity.
(3) There is no state control or censorship of the press. Foreign language papers are freely imported.
(4) British broadcasting is based on the tradition that it is a public service accountable to the people through Parliament. Television and radio services are provided by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Other operators are licensed individually by the Independent Television Commission (ITC)and the Radio Authority. The responsibilities of these public bodies are set out in legislation. The Government itself is not responsible for program content or broadcasters' day-to-day conduct of business.
(5) The independence of the broadcasters requires them to maintain certain standards regarding programs and program content. Under the relevant legislation and the codes of practice applied by the broadcasting authorities, programs must display, as far as possible, a proper balance and wide range of subject matter, and impartiality in matters of controversy. There are also rules relating to violence and standards of taste and decency in television programs, particularly during hours when large numbers of children are likely to be watching. Broadcasters must also comply with the general law relating to obscenity and incitement to racial hatred.
(6) According to 1991 European agreements on cross-border broadcasting, programs may not be indecent, contain pornography, give undue emphasis to violence, or be likely to incite racial hatred. Nor should programs unsuitable for children be broadcast when they can be expected to be watching.
(7) Theater: There is no censorship of plays. It is, however, a criminal offence to present or direct an obscene performance of a play in public or private. Such a performance is defined as one which, taken as a whole, tends to 'deprave and corrupt persons who are likely to attend it'. There is a defence against an obscenity charge on the grounds that the performance is for the public good in the interest of drama, opera or literature.
(8) Films and Video: Government has no power to censor films. Cinemas are licensed by local government authorities, which have a legal duty to prohibit the admission of children under 16 to unsuitable films, and may prevent the showing of any film, although this particular power is hardly ever exercised. In assessing the suitability of films, authorities rely on the British Board for Film Classification, an independent non-statutory body to which films offered to the public must be submitted.


Section 16 Right to Privacy
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Every one has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
(1) The common law allows people to speak and act in their own homes as they please and to carry on their daily business, provided that they do not infringe the rights of others or commit an offence.
(2) Parents are free to bring up their children as they so wish, provided that they do not infringe laws against cruelty and exposure to moral and physical danger. Parents also have to observe the law regarding compulsory education of their children.
(3) Is a criminal offence for a man to commit a homosexual act with a person under the age of 18. The age was changed from 21 to 18 with a vote of 336 to 129. A 1999 bill to further reduce that age to 16 has failed.
(4) Privacy and the Press: Action is being taken by the Government to deal with media intrusion into the privacy of individuals. The law against libel gives protection against attacks on a person's honor and reputation.
(5) Some other forms of intrusion are criminal offenses, for example, the use of unlicensed radio transmitters for bugging, the harassment of tenants to make them quit, or the sending of unsolicited obscene material through the post. Other attempts to obtain private information may involve offenses of criminal trespass.
(6) Interception of Communications: Legislation authorizes governmental interception of postal and telephone services but only on certain limited grounds. Any interception outside these procedures is a criminal offence.
(7) Computers: Under the Data Protection Act 1984, which gives effect to a Council of Europe Convention, data users are required to register a description of the personal data they hold, the purposes for which they use it, the sources from which they obtain it and the categories of person to whom they may disclose it. They must also provide an address to which data subjects may write for access to the data. Individuals have the legal right to know about the data held on them and the right toask a court to have factually wrong or misleading data corrected or deleted. In addition they have the right to claim compensation for damages if the data are lost, inaccurate, or disclosed without authority.
Source: Bill of Rights
Part 5, Section 51 ( in total)