The case Associated Newspapers Limited v. the United Kingdom concerned the fact that Associated Newspapers Limited - the publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday - had been obliged to pay extensive costs incurred by claimants who had successfully sued it in privacy and/or defamation proceedings. Since one of the claimants had entered into a conditional fee arrangement (CFA) with his legal representative, and both had taken out “after-the-event” (ATE) insurance, Associated Newspapers Limited had been liable not only for their base costs, but also for fee uplifts including the “success fee” in the CFA and for their ATE insurance premiums.

The Court held that there had been a violation of the freedom of expression as regards the “success fees” the newspaper company had had to pay, and no violation of the same article as regards the company’s obligation to cover the “after-the event” (ATE) insurance premiums taken out by the successful claimants.

• Press release