The supreme court has reserved its decision on whether or not to lift a temporary privacy injunction preventing identification of a celebrity who has been involved in a three-way sexual encounter.
The case has escalated into a public battle over the issue of whether or not injunctions banning publication can be sustained in the era of the internet when websites outside UK courts’ jurisdiction can be read in Britain.
The delay by the country’s highest court is the latest stage in a three-month legal dispute involving the Sun on Sunday newspaper. The claimant, known by the initials PJS, who is in the entertainment business, is said to have had an extramarital affair with another couple about four years ago.
One of the couple approached the Sun on Sunday in January this year and told reporters about their relationship. The paper, which planned to publish the story, contacted PJS’s lawyers, initiating the courtroom dispute. A London court originally granted the injunction, preventing identification of those involved, against the Sun on Sunday newspaper on the grounds that naming the parents would harm the family’s children.
Desmond Browne QC, representing PJS, had earlier told the supreme court: “This case has been hailed by some as the death knell of the privacy injunction. We hope that reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated.” Naming the celebrity would be devastating for the family’s children, Browne said.
The supreme court did not indicate when it would give its judgment.
The injunction will continue in force in the meantime.
