High Court’s Refusal to Order Disclosure of Journalistic Source Underscores High Bar for Norwich Pharmacal Orders

The High Court has refused to compel The Guardian newspaper to disclose the identity of an alleged source of non-public court information. The judgment emphasises the high bar for obtaining a Norwich Pharmacal order (typically used to compel disclosure of the identity of a wrongdoer from a third party): in particular, it will be crucial that the party from whom the information is sought is “mixed up” in the wrongdoing, not just a witness or recipient of the information or documents.... By: BCLP