Defendant anonymity until charge, the presumption of innocence and the taxonomy of misuse of private information

Abstract

ABSTRACT This note welcomes the judgment in ZXC and in particular the humane and nuanced recognition of reality. The general public do not draw the technical distinctions that professionals and carefully guided juries do on the presumption of innocence. The extension of anonymity until charge is a welcome outcome. The note also considers the taxonomy of the area, responding to the note by Tom Bennett in this volume. It suggests that the ‘hippogriffian’ aspects of the tort of MPI can be explained and justified with a little work.