More than 100 application for privacy injunctions made in last ten years, data finds

Injunctions have been headline news over the last week

This information comes in the wake of David Walliams failing to secure an injunction against reporting of allegations of sexual misconduct.

On Friday, the Met Police announced they had opened an investigation into the comedian and writer.

Walliams denies all allegations of wrongdoing, including any criminal activity, and says he is "not a sexual predator"

Meanwhile, journalist Justine Smith claimed on the Private Eye Podcast that a second well-known celebrity has an injunction preventing reporting on allegations of wrongdoing.

She alleges that the man has "multiple, multiple victims".

All of this has led to plenty of discussion in the last week around injunctions and their use in potentially protecting famous figures from the process of justice.

Now, data from the Ministry of Justice has shown that there have been more than 100 applications for injunctions made in the last decade, with the aim of protecting people from 'private' matters becoming public.

Of course, privacy injunctions are made almost exclusively by people in the public eye, aiming to avoid information being disseminated to the public.

Since 2016, there have been 111 applications for new interim privacy injunctions, alongside 16 hearings concerning final injunctions and 43 relating to the continuation or variation of existing orders.

Credit: Ministry of Justice.

A privacy injunction does not necessarily imply wrongdoing, it can also concern personal matters that a person may not want to be public knowledge.

Injunctions explained

Injunctions cover a wide range of subjects, and are effectively a court order preventing or forcing something being done.

They can prohibit and enforce actions and the breaching of an injunction is considered contempt of court.

While an injunction is a civil court order, contempt of court is considered a criminal offence.

Meanwhile, there remains an even greater type of injunction known as a 'super-injunction'.

A super-injunction is the same as a regular one, except it prevents reporting on the existence of said injunction or proceedings at all.

Because of this, it is impossible to know how many are going on at any one time.

What has the government said about injunctions?

Many have criticised the use of injunctions in this way to protect certain people from facing public prosecution.

After Shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy asked what the Government was doing to prevent the abuse of process, justice minister Alex Davis-Jones said: "I want to reassure him that this Government is determined to do all we can to ensure that anyone who is a perpetrator of these kinds (of potential offences) is held to the full force of the law.

"That includes looking at what we can do regarding injunctions.

"He will know that applications for privacy injunctions are considered independently (by) the courts, and it would not be appropriate for the Government to comment.

"However, we are concerned about the use of these, and the minister for courts is looking at what more we can do with Slapps (strategic lawsuits against public participation) injunctions.

"He will know we have already taken action on NDAs for sexual abuse cases, and what more we can do to prevent abuse of process throughout the judicial system."