08 September 2017
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"This week The Guardian published leaked Brexit proposals from the Government which set out strict new plans for a “British workers first” immigration policy. Here Guardian head of legal services Gill Phillips warns of the chilling effect on journalism of Law Commission proposals to possibly criminalise such leaks...
Recent proposals by the Law Commission to reform the Official Secret Acts are the latest attempt to impose greater state control of information about the operation of government.
If accepted by the Government, they would have a chilling effect on public interest journalism, further criminalising the act of leaking government documents even when in the public interest, and making illegal the role of journalists in reporting on those documents."
See: UK: Guardian legal chief Gill Phillips on the chilling effect of Law Commission plan to 'criminalise public interest journalism' (Press Gazette, link)
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