Max Mosley loses European Court privacy case

The verdict in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg represents a blow to Mr Mosley's campaign for tighter privacy laws following revelations of his sex life in the News of the World.

It had been feared that if Mr Mosley had been successful, more celebrities would have been able to obtain super-injunctions to suppress negative stories.

Today's verdict of the seven-judge court declared: "The European Convention on Human Rights does not require media to give prior notice of intended publications to those who feature in them."

It said that in Britain the right to a private life was protected in several ways: by a system of self-regulation of the press; by access to civil courts to seek damages; and "if individuals were aware of an intended publication touching upon their private life" they could seek an interim injunction preventing publication.

In addition, said the judges, a UK parliamentary inquiry on privacy issues had been held recently with the participation of, among others, Mr Mosley himself. The resulting report had rejected the need for a "pre-notification" requirement, the court noted.