united-kingdom data-protection court harassment
Is newspaper publishing of a defendant&#39;s details considered doxing in the United Kingdom?
<p>Does doxing apply to a newspaper that publishes a defendant’s full name and full address (minus the postcode) following a first hearing in the Magistrates Court? </p>

<p>Can a defendant who is yet to stand trial, and therefore yet to face the possibility of being convicted, have their details thus published in the local newspaper? Are there laws to prevent this and/or challenge it should it be published?</p>

<p>For context, the defendant has severe mental health conditions and is now afraid of being harassed.</p>

<p>The common law <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutral_reportage" rel="nofollow noreferrer">defence of Reportage</a> specifically allows newspapers to do this exact thing: Where they reveal the name/identity of a person facing allegations even before that person has been charged or found guilty of those allegations</p>

<p>In the UK, the Defamation Act 2013 maintains this defence by combining into the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/26/section/4/enacted" rel="nofollow noreferrer">defence of a Publication on a Matter of Public Interest</a>. Usually this defence is successfully invoked by newspaper organisations, since most things which are newsworthy are "of public interest", this includes celebrity exposes. </p>

<p>To overcome such a defence it require: showing that the newspapers were in total error on publishing the person's identity (i.e, that it was actually someone else facing the charges, not the named individual), OR that the information isn't in the public interest. A national newspaper writing the names of people implicated in a minor theft incident? Probably not public interest, but a local newspaper doing the same? Probably public interest.</p>

<p>The court 'lists' of cases will contain at minimum each defendant’s name, age, address, his profession when known and the alleged offence.</p>

<p>In the interests of the principle of 'open justice' and accurate reporting (e.g. distinguishing individuals with similar names) the newspaper is free to publish the defendant's name, address and alleged offences unless there are exceptional circumstances laid down by statute or common law (for a quick reference guide read from page 17 of <a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/reporting-restrictions-guide-may-2016-2.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/reporting-restrictions-guide-may-2016-2.pdf</a>).</p>

<p>I do not recall ever seeing a specific house or apartment number in media reports of criminal cases - only name, street, town, allegation, if that makes any difference.</p>

<p>I hope the defendant has a solicitor who can answer the question for the defendant's specific circumstances.</p>
