Does this ruling mean end for paparazzi?

Celebrities who cannot pop out for a pint of milk for fear of being snapped by the paparazzi will from today enjoy greater rights of protection.

Newspapers and celebrity magazines must now observe a strict ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that ruled in favour of Princess Caroline of Monaco after she complained about photographs taken of her while shopping.

The ruling is considered so wide it could make it impossible to publish photographs of public figures going about their daily lives, without their consent. Yesterday it emerged the German government would not appeal against the decision, despite growing pressure from the international media which has complained it infringes on the freedom of expression. The deadline for an appeal passes today and without German intervention the ruling will stand.

The Princess took her case to the Strasbourg court after Germany's constitutional court rejected her attempt for an injunction against the publication of further photographs in 1999. The court ruled she had to tolerate photos of herself in public.

The ruling will also apply in Britain, which has incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into law and UK judges are obliged to take such judgments into account. Lawyers said yesterday that celebrities would be able use the decision to sue the media in the UK courts over seemingly innocuous pictures.

Princess Caroline, who married Prince Ernst-August von Hannover in 1999, has spent years unsuccessfully trying to persuade German courts to stop the publication of photographs taken without her consent. She said they were used to entertain, satisfy readers' voyeurism and make huge profits.

Judges at the Strasbourg court concurred, ruling that in her case Article 8 of the ECHR had been violated. The test, the court said, was whether publication was likely to contribute to any debate of general interest to society. The judges said the public did not have a legitimate interest in knowing where she was and how she behaved in her private life even if she appeared in public and was well known.

Dan Tench, media partner at the City lawyers Olswang, said yesterday: "In the next few months it [the press] is likely to feel the force and effect of the Caroline decision in the form of a powerful new privacy law.

"Now, whenever a celebrity is photographed in the street, a newspaper will have to come up with a justification for the publication of that photograph. In the vast majority of cases that would seem very hard to do."

The ruling could force the Press Complaints Commission to strengthen the provision in its code which prevents publication when there is "a reasonable expectation of privacy".

Amber Melville-Brown, a media law expert at David Price Solicitors and Advocates, said: "A balance has to be struck between ... the right to publish unauthorised flab, cellulite and sweat patches; and the rights of spoilt, prima-donna celebrities only to be photographed when they are good and ready. The press appears perfectly at ease in this task, little fearing that recent decisions tie their hands too tightly."