A celebrity fight-back “par excellence”

Having hardly had time to recover from the judgment in Campbell v. MGN Ltd., the Strasbourg judges' decision in von Hannover v. Germany (Application no. 59320/00, judgment of 24 June 2004. While the judgment is not yet reported, it has been published on the ECtHR website: http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?item=1%26portal=hbkm%26action=html%26highlight=59320/00%26sessionid=1094295%26skin=hudoc-en) has landed a potentially bigger blow to the tabloid press and paparazzi alike. This article examines the victory of Princess Caroline of Monaco against the German press and evaluates the likely impact of the judgment on the delicate balance between the individual's right to privacy and the press's freedom of expression.