Human Rights Act reform consultation: Scottish Government response

6. What further steps could be taken in the Bill of Rights to provide stronger protection for journalists' sources?

160. Protection of journalistic sources is one of the basic conditions for press freedom.

161. The ECtHR has stated that orders to disclose journalistic sources can have a "potentially chilling effect" on press freedom in a democratic society^[35] and that without protection, sources may be "deterred from assisting the press in informing the public on matters of public interest … and the ability of the press to provide accurate and reliable information may be adversely affected"^[36].

162. The Scottish Government would therefore support, in principle, a minor amendment to the HRA which has the specific purpose of protecting journalists' sources.

163. In reality, the principal threat in this area is one of executive overreach and the attempt by state institutions to restrict the ability of the media to undertake investigative journalism. Such journalistic endeavour serves to draw attention to matters that are of genuine public interest. As such it is a necessary feature of a modern democracy founded on respect for human rights and the rule of law. There is consequently a clear public interest in ensuring that the freedom of the press to investigate and to report is properly safeguarded.

164. Support for a minor amendment offering enhanced protection for journalists' sources is, however, very much conditional on the development of specific proposals which are capable of securing widespread support across the political spectrum and within civil society.

165. To the extent that further analysis identifies any need for guidance relating to the operation of the courts in Scotland, this requirement should properly be addressed by the Scottish Civil Justice Council and the Judicial Institute of Scotland, either in the form of court rules or by means of judicial training.