Setback for Mosley in privacy case

Ex-Formula One boss Max Mosley today lost his European Court of Human Rights bid to force newspapers to warn people before exposing their private lives.

The verdict in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg marks the final stage in Mr Mosley’s campaign for tighter privacy laws following revelations about his sex life in the News of the World.

In 2008, the UK High Court awarded him £60,000 (€68,514) damages after ruling that there was no justification for a front-page article and pictures about his meeting with five prostitutes in a London flat.

But Mr Mosley pursued the case to the Human Rights Court, challenging UK privacy laws which allow publication without giving targets advanced warning.

His lawyer told a hearing in January that the failure of UK law to oblige newspapers to notify their “victims” before exposing their private lives violated the European Human Rights Convention, to which Britain is a signatory.

The High Court damages award did not restore Mr Mosley’s privacy, said David Pannick QC, but “prior notification” would have given him the chance to seek an injunction preventing publication.