Scotsman Archive: Papers celebrate Spycatcher victory

Published on Wednesday 25 November 2009 20:47

PAPERS CELEBRATE SPYCATCHER VICTORY 26 November, 1991

THE government may be forced to review restrictions on press freedom after being found guilty yesterday of breaching human rights during its five-year battle to suppress Peter Wright's memoir of his MI5 career, Spycatcher. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that injunctions halting the Observer, Guardian and Sunday Times from publishing details of Mr Wright's book contravened Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The ban, ordered on grounds of national security, remained in place until October 1988, 14 months after the book went on sale in the United States.

The court's 24 judges unanimously ruled: "The purpose of the restrictions had, since the material was no longer secret, become confined to the promotion of the efficiency and reputation of the security service. Their continuation prevented newspapers from purveying information already available."

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