International Eurasia Press Fund

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) adopted a ruling that confirmed the rights of news organisations to protect the confidentiality of their sources. International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF) was informed about this occurrence by the International Press Institute (IPI). With this ruling, five news organisations – The Guardian, The Independent, the Times, the Financial Times and Reuters – won a case against the Belgian-based brewers Interbrew. In 2001 a UK court ordered these organizations to hand over leaked documents submitted to Interbrew by its financial advisers about a possible bid for South African Breweries. They brought the case before the ECHR in response to this judgement.

The UK court argued that there was a public interest in unmasking the leaker. The judgment was later upheld by a court of appeal and the House of Lords subsequently refused to give further leave to appeal.

IPI officials appraised the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights that confirm the right of  news agencies to keep their sources of information confidential, and criticized the UK courts and the House of Lords. In one of the statements it issued on this problem, IPI said: “The fundamental issue in this case is the right of the media to protect their confidential sources. If such a right were diluted then the media would find it increasingly difficult to expose corporate malfeasance – a fact that would surely be harmful not only to the public who deserve accountability in these matters but also to corporations, such as Interbrew.”

“Journalists’ right to keep their sources of information confidential is a key element of news reporting. If this right is not upheld, any form of investigative journalism would be severely hampered,” said IPI Director David Dadge. “We congratulate the European Court of Human Rights on this ruling and hope that it will serve as a reference for other courts around the world.”

It should be noted that the four news organisations defied the ruling and, joined by The Independent, pleaded the case for protection of sources, arguing that the court’s order violated their right to freedom of expression under article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Aside from the judgment, the ECHR ordered the UK government to pay the news organisations €160,000 (£143,000).

Information Department of IEPF