Guy Vassall-Adams

Guy Vassall-Adams specialises in media law, public law and human rights. He is recommended for defamation and privacy by Chambers & Partners and for both defamation and privacy and media and entertainment by the Legal 500. The 2010 edition of Chambers and Partners describes him as "exceptionally helpful and responsive - he works collaboratively and offers impressive, creative solutions", while the Legal 500 recommends him for "client focus and his intellectual calibre".

Open justice and freedom of expression

Guy Vassall-Adams represented the national media in R(Binyam Mohamed) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs [2009] EWHC 152 (Admin), acting as sole counsel and successfully persuading the High Court to release part of a judgment detailing its findings of torture by the CIA. In Independent News and Media v A [2009] EWHC 2858 (Fam), he acted for the national media as sole counsel in the first case in which the media have been granted access to a private hearing before the Court of Protection. He also represented the national media as junior counsel in the recent test case on media access to private hearings in the family courts: Re Child X (A Child)(Residence and contact - rights of media attendance) (2009) 2 FLR 1467.

Guy Vassall-Adams is acting for free speech organisation Article 19 in its intervention in the Florence Hartmann case before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, concerning a journalist convicted of contempt of court for publications concerning the Tribunal.

Defamation

Guy Vassall-Adams has a predominantly defendant practice in defamation and has appeared in some of the leading recent cases in which freedom of expression has been used to develop public interest defences. He was junior counsel before the House of Lords in Jameel v Wall Street Journal Europe (2007) 1 AC 359, the leading case on responsible journalism on a matter of public interest and acted as junior counsel for Searchlight magazine in Roberts v Gable (2006) EMLR 23, the leading case on neutral reportage.

He has considerable expertise in internet libel and recently represented Newquest Media Group in the defamation case which established that the Electronic Commerce Regulations hosting defence applies to newspaper bulletin boards: Imran Karim v Newsquest Media Group [2009] EWHC 3205 (QB).

Judicial reviews

Guy Vassall-Adams acted in the first substantive freedom of expression case before the Supreme Court, concerning whether the Investigatory Powers Tribunal had exclusive jurisdiction to determine an Article 10 claim by a former intelligence officer seeking to publish a book: R(A) v Director of Establishments of the Security Service [2009] UKSC 12. He acted as junior counsel for the media applicants in Corner House Research v Serious Fraud Office (2008) ACD 63, successfully establishing a right of access to all statements of case in judicial review proceedings and as junior counsel for Rockstar Games in R(BBFC) v Video Appeals Committee (2008) 1 WLR 1658 (the "Manhunt II" case), on the application of the 'harm' test to video games under the Video Recordings Act.

In addition to his expertise in media-related judicial reviews, Guy Vassall-Adams acts in a range of other judicial reviews and legal challenges brought in the Divisional Court. In criminal law, he represented Parliament Square peace protestor Brian Haw in Haw and Tucker v Bow Street Magistrates' Court (2008) 3 WLR 465, successfully establishing in the Divisional Court a right of appeal against a conviction for contempt of court contrary to s.12 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981. in election law, he represented the incumbent Labour councillors in two recent special cases in the Divisional Court: Pilling v Reynolds [2008] EWHC 316 (QB), on the test for whether a vote is void for uncertainty and Fitch v Stephenson [2008] EWHC (QB), on whether a significant miscount of votes voids an election under the Representation of the Peoples Act. He was junior counsel for the claimant in R(Clibery) v SSHD [2007] EWHC 1855 (Admin), the miscarriage of justice compensation case on 'new or newly discovered facts'.

Human rights

Apart from freedom of expression cases, Guy Vassall-Adams has also acted in a range of other cases involving human rights law. He is currently acting in an international claim brought on behalf of Peruvian demonstrators involving allegations of torture against a mining company, in which a freezing injunction against the company has been granted: Guerrero v Monterrico Metals [2009] EWHC 2475 (QB). He acted as junior counsel before the House of Lords in the test case on the right to life concerning whether the police owed a duty of care to victims of crime: Chief Constable of Hertfordshire v Van Colle (2009) 1 AC 225. He was junior counsel in Tamara Merson v AG of the Bahamas [2005] UKPC 38, the Privy Council case which established the availability of compensatory damages for breaches of human rights under the Constitution of the Bahamas.

Contempt and reporting restrictions

Guy Vassall-Adams has extensive experience of acting for the media in reporting restrictions cases in a wide range of courts of tribunals, including the Family Division of the High Court, the Commercial Court, the Crown Court and the employment tribunal and representing clients including the BBC, Times Newspapers Ltd, the FT and Bloomberg. He is the author of the current JSB/Society of Editors guidelines Reporting Restrictions in the Criminal Courts (2009). As sole counsel he successfully represented the BBC and Times Newspapers Limited before the President of the Family Division in Re LM (Reporting Restrictions); Coroner's Inquest) (2008) 1 FLR 1360, establishing that the open justice principle applies to the reporting of inquests. He also acted as sole counsel for the national media in the leading Employment Tribunal case on restricted reporting orders: Tradition Securities and Futures (2009) IRLR 354.

Privacy and breach of confidence

He has experience of bringing successful privacy claims and of obtaining injunctive relief against the media in privacy cases. He recently acted for O and U, two SIAC detainees released on bail, who obtained injunctions preventing the publication of photographs of their home and family life. Guy Vassall-Adams has also acted in a number of breach of confidence cases including cases raising issues under the Official Secrets Acts.

Production orders

He has experience of representing the media in opposing applications for production orders under both PACE and the Terrorism Act. He acted for CBS in proceedings under the Terrorism Act arising from an interview on US news programme Sixty Minutes.

Pre-publication advice

Guy Vassall-Adams has extensive experience of giving pre-publication advice to national newspapers, magazines and broadcasters. He also regularly gives pro bono pre-publication advice and training to non-governmental organisations. Between 2005 and 2008 he was a night lawyer for The Guardian and he currently provides pre-broadcast advice to ITN.

International training

He is a Council of Europe expert on freedom of expression with experience of training public officials and non-governmental organisations in Kosovo, Armenia and Russia.

Before coming to the Bar, Guy worked as a television journalist for London Weekend Television, a researcher for Oxfam and as a humanitarian affairs officer for the United Nations in Africa, where he was a founder member of the human rights information network IRIN. He is the author of a book on UN peacekeeping reform, Rwanda: An Agenda for International Action, Oxfam Publications, 1994.

Year of Call

2000

Education

BA Hons (Oxon), LLM International Human Rights Law (Distinction), Queen Mother Scholar, Middle Temple (1998, 1999)

Email Address

g.vassall-adams@doughtystreet.co.uk

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Specialist Teams

Member :

• Actions Against the police
• Human Rights
• Media and Defamation
• Public and Administrative Law