Newsroom
High Court foils police ‘fishing expedition’
Greater Manchester Police were today defeated in their attempt to secure a wide-ranging court order which, if left unchallenged, would have seriously undermined the future of investigative journalism.
Today’s High Court ruling was made in an appeal, backed by the NUJ and Times Newspapers, by journalist Shiv Malik who has been fighting a production order which would have forced him to reveal swathes of source material to the police.
The judgment states that the original order was too wide, sending a clear signal to the police that they should not use broad production orders and must respect the special nature of journalistic material.
The original order by Manchester Crown Court required Shiv Malik to produce source materials relating to a book he is writing about the activities of Hassan Butt, a man who has admitted to involvement with terrorist organisations in the past but has since renounced his views.
Whilst Hassan Butt had already agreed to meet with the authorities to discuss what he had done, the police went ahead and applied for a broad production order, failing to recognise the wider importance of journalists protecting confidential source material.
Journalists and media organisations are concerned that if such wide orders were to become the norm, whistleblowers and other sources would be reluctant to come forward, out of fear that anything they say could be fed through to the police.
Speaking outside the High Court after the ruling was announced, NUJ General Secretary, Jeremy Dear, made the following statement:
“This ruling sends a clear signal to the police that they can’t see journalists as simply another tool of intelligence gathering.
“When Greater Manchester Police applied for the original production order, they failed to recognise the special nature of journalistic material. Rather than take the time to consider what information they really needed, the police went fishing, hoping a general order would dredge up something of use.
“Hassan Butt had already informed the authorities that he was ready, willing and able to talk to the police and the security services about what he knew and what he had done.
“Today’s judgment shows that to play hard and loose with such sensitive material as journalistic sources is simply not acceptable.
“There are sometimes people and places that only journalists can reach; where the whole of society benefits from questions being asked. If they had been successful, the police would have struck a severe blow to the future of investigative journalism. It would have called into question a journalist’s ability to protect their sources and discouraged whistleblowers from speaking out.
“The NUJ backed Shiv Malik’s case because journalism matters, and we will continue to challenge those who fail to respect its vital role in our democracy.”
In addition to financial support from the NUJ and Times Newspapers, a range of high profile figures and organisations have publicly supported Shiv Malik’s case. On 19 March leading figures from journalism and civil liberties organisations, including Jonathan Dimbleby and Shami Chakrabarti, signed a letter to the Times warning of the implications of Manchester Police’s actions.
