'Independent' refused leave to appeal to Lords

The House of Lords refused to grant a full hearing to The Independent and three other national newspapers yesterday in a case that could have wide implications for the freedom of the press.

The ruling upholds a judgment by the High Court that ordered The Independent and the four other news organisations to hand over documents that could lead to the identification of the person responsible for leaking information relating to a company takeover bid.

Journalists were sent apparently doctored documents regarding a possible takeover of South African Breweries by a Belgian brewery company.

In a judgment in March, the Court of Appeal dismissed a challenge by the four papers – The Independent, The Times, the Financial Times, and The Guardian – and Reuters news agency, but agreed to suspend enforcement of the order until the case had been heard by the House of Lords.

The European Convention on Human Rights guarantees the media freedom of expression, while the Contempt of Court Act 1981 gives a statutory right to journalists who wish to protect their sources.

Andrew Puddephatt, executive director of Article 19, an international freedom of expression group, said that in light of recent financial scandals at Enron and WorldCom, there was a public interest in allowing journalists to "probe" the City and international business markets. "This is particularly so when a company is a publicly quoted one or where there is a serious loss of public confidence in the financial markets," he said.

He added: "Journalists do not have an absolute right to protect their sources but where there is a public interest and journalists are protecting their source on behalf of the public interest courts should not force them to hand over documents."

Last month law lords ordered the Daily Mirror to name the person at Ashworth hospital, Merseyside, who leaked the medical records of the Moors murderer Ian Brady.

In yesterday's case, the documents were sent to news organisations after Interbrew asked its advisers, Goldman Sachs and Lazards, for work on a potential "rapprochement" with South African Breweries.

The documents were copies of the "presentation" papers but included what Interbrew called a "fabricated" offer price and a timetable for a bid. In November, a number of papers published stories covering this proposed bid and the mystery surrounding the documents.