Ben Silverstone

Ben has a broad practice in media and information law, with a particular expertise in data protection, defamation, breach of confidence, privacy and harassment claims and in related areas such as freedom of information, reporting restrictions, source protection issues, open justice and contempt of court.

Among the recent notable cases in which he has acted are the following:

• Banks v Cadwalladr: Defamation proceedings brought against prominent investigative journalist.
• Elphicke v Times Newspapers: Libel claim brought by a former MP.
• Stunt v Associated Newspapers: Court of Appeal decision on the journalistic exemption under the Data Protection Act 1998.
• Miller v Associated Newspapers: Decision of the Supreme Court on the recovery of additional costs in libel and privacy claims.
• PJS v News Group Newspapers: Supreme Court decision on an application to discharge a privacy injunction relating to a celebrity.
• Guardian News and Media & others v Incedal and another: Two Court of Appeal decisions on in camera hearings and reporting restrictions in a criminal trial.
• Vidal-Hall & others v Google Inc: Court of Appeal decision establishing that damages are available in data protection claims without proof of special damage.

Ben has a particular expertise in large-scale and group litigation. For several years he has acted as junior counsel for News Group Newspapers in the privacy claims managed together as the Mobile Telephone Voicemail Interception Litigation. He is also currently instructed for a large group of claimants in the British Airways Data Event Group Litigation. He previously represented over 100 claimants who brought defamation, data protection and conspiracy claims in the group litigation relation to the “blacklisting” of workers in the construction industry over the course of several decades.

Pre-publication advice

Ben has worked as a regular duty lawyer for the BBC, the Independent and the Observer. He has also provided ad hoc pre-publication advice to a number of media organisations as well as charities and NGOs.

Publications on media and information law

Online Publication Claims: A Practical Guide (Matrix, 2017; updated 2018): co-author of the chapter on identifying the proper defendant.

Human Rights Practice (Sweet and Maxwell, 2013); co-author of the latest update of the chapter on article 10: freedom of expression.

Ben’s practice in public and human rights law spans a range of work, including judicial review claims, civil actions against public and corporate bodies and Tribunal cases.

Recent significant cases in which he has been instructed include the following:

• R (Cornerstone) v Ofsted:  Judicial review claim brought by an independent fostering agency in respect of an Ofsted inspection report, raising issues of discrimination and the right to freedom of religion.
• XYZ and others v Ministry of Defence: Claims brought in respect of alleged unlawful detention and mistreatment of Iraqi civilians during and after the 2003 Iraq War.
• R (Miranda) v SSHD: Court of Appeal decision that the power to stop, search and detain under the Terrorism Act 2000, Schedule 7 was incompatible with Article 10 ECHR.
• Allbutt v Ministry of Defence: Supreme Court decision establishing that combat immunity did not bar negligence claims relating to a death and injuries sustained on the battlefield

Publications on public and human rights law

Halsbury’s Laws of England, 5th edition: Rights and Freedoms (June 2013), sole author of the chapters on the right to liberty and the right to a fair hearing.

Children in Need: Local Authority Support for Children and Families (Legal Action Group, 1st edition, 2011; 2nd edition, 2013), sole author of the chapter on legal fundamentals.

Disabled Children: A Legal Handbook (Legal Action Group, October 2010), sole author of the chapter on welfare benefits.

Ben has a wide-ranging practice in public and private international law, as well as cases relating to other jurisdictions. As well as cases raising such issues in the English courts, he has been involved in constitutional appeals before the Privy Council (Trinidad & Tobago), the Caribbean Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal of Belize. He has also acted in numerous appeals in death penalty cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Malaysia and Singapore. Relevant cases include:

• Gubarev v BuzzFeed Inc: Appeal of order for evidence to be given by deposition in a Florida defamation claim concerning the so-called “Trump dossier”.
• AAA v (1) Camellia plc (2) Linton Park Plc (3) Robertson Bois Dickson Anderson: claims brought by 85 Claimants alleging human rights abuses on a farm in Kenya.
• Ramdeen v Trinidad and Tobago: Decision of the Privy Council on the constitutionality of the mandatory sentence of death in Trinidad and Tobago.
• Fuller v Attorney General of Belize: Privy Council decision relating to extradition proceedings in Belize.