Bloomberg LP (Appellant) v ZXC (Respondent)

This appeal concerns a claim for misuse of private information arising out of an article published by Bloomberg relating to the activities of a company in a particular country. The claimant, ZXC, had been under criminal investigation by a UK law enforcement body and claimed that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in respect of information relating to the investigation. The Court of Appeal had dismissed Bloomberg’s appeal against a finding by the High Court that the claimant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in respect of information relating to the investigation and that the article 8/10 balancing exercise came down in favour of the claimant. Bloomberg appealed to the Supreme Court.The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal on all grounds. The Court of Appeal was correct to hold that there is a general rule, applicable in the present case, that a person under criminal investigation has, prior to being charged, a reasonable expectation of privacy in respect of information relating to that investigation. The Court of Appeal was also correct to hold that, in a case in which a claim for breach of confidence was not pursued, the fact that information published by Bloomberg about a criminal investigation originated from a confidential law enforcement document rendered the information private and/or undermined Bloomberg’s ability to rely on the public interest in its disclosure. The Court of Appeal was correct to uphold the findings of the High Court that the claimant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in relation to the published information complained of, and that the article 8/10 balancing exercise came down in favour of the claimant.