article_snippet: Prosecutors have pursued the newspaper journalists and public sector workers using the ancient common law offence of misconduct in public office.
article_snippet: But accused reporters have argued accused reporters are pursuing stories which were in the public interest.
article_snippet: Speaking at his party’s campaign launch in Abingdon, Oxford, Mr Clegg told the Daily Mail the public interest defence was ‘just far too opaque in too many of our laws.
article_snippet: his also called for a ‘proper review and proper reform’ of the misconduct law.
article_snippet: ‘I have long been concerned that the laws of the land are not clear enough on the public interest defence for journalists and other people who are covering information in the interests of the public.
article_snippet: It’s just far too opaque, in too many of our laws, exactly what is the strength and nature of a public interest defence.
article_snippet: I would like to see that clarified in law, his party’s has always advocated that.
article_snippet: The fact that prosecutors are relying on 13th century laws, that we don’t have an up-to-date definition of what a public interest defence is, shows the need for a proper review and a proper reform of the law in this area.
article_snippet: Charles Wide had ‘misdirected’ the jury on a key aspect of the misconduct in a public office offence relating to the seriousness threshold required for conviction.
article_snippet: In a prison officer ruling, Lord Thomas Of Cwmgiedd also said that in a democratic society the media played an important role ‘in making information available to the public when it is in the public interest to do so’.