Ex judge warns of 'vilification' after Prince Harry claims 'obvious whitewash' following High Court defeat

A former lord chief justice has issued a stark warning against the personal attacks on judges after Prince Harry said his recent court defeat was "a complete and obvious whitewash".

Lord Burnett of Maldon, who led the judiciary of England and Wales from 2017 to 2023, addressed the House of Lords on Thursday, declaring that such vilification "crosses the line into a direct assault on the independence of the judiciary".

His intervention followed the Duke of Sussex's comments after losing his privacy battle with Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail.

Harry, alongside six fellow claimants including Sir Elton John, had alleged that journalists and private investigators working for the newspaper group unlawfully gathered information about them through phone hacking, bugging and blagging.

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Mr Justice Nicklin delivered his judgment against the group, concluding that they had not succeeded in substantiating their accusations.

The case represented one of the most high-profile legal challenges brought against a British media organisation in recent years, with the claimants seeking to hold Associated Newspapers accountable for what they alleged were systematic privacy violations spanning years of intrusive newsgathering practices.

The judge determined that the group had not successfully demonstrated their accusations of unlawful information gathering against the media organisation.

Meanwhile, Associated Newspapers responded to the judgment by declaring it an "overwhelming victory" and a "magnificent vindication of the Daily Mail's journalism".

Harry and Baroness Doreen released a statement following the decision, claiming "he lengths to which the Court has gone to exonerate the Mail is as shocking as it is totally unwarranted."

"When the Court says there is not sufficient evidence of wrongdoing, despite the documents showing otherwise, then one does wonder how justice was ever going to be achieved," they added.

Lord Burnett emphasised that the judiciary's independence becomes compromised whenever judges face personal criticism over their decisions or have their integrity questioned.

"An expression of disagreement with the outcome of a case is entirely unobjectionable, but the growth of personal vilification, in which, regrettably, from time to time politicians have joined, crosses the line into a direct assault on the independence of the judiciary," he told peers.

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The former Lord Chief Justice noted that members of the bench communicate solely through their judgments and lack the ability to respond to criticism.

He reminded the chamber that the Constitutional Reform Act places obligations upon the lord chancellor to safeguard judicial independence.

Lord Burnett's remarks came during a Lords debate on the Constitution Committee's report, titled The Rule Of Law: Holding The Line Against Tyranny And Anarchy.

Baroness Andrews, an independent crossbench peer serving on the committee, observed that contempt for legal authority had grown bolder since the pandemic.

"Evidence suggests that disrespect for the law has been emboldened since Covid, with the paradox of draconian legislation, which was felt by many not to have been evenly applied," she said, alluding to the partygate affair.

The committee's findings highlighted that a hostile climate towards the judiciary had been permitted to flourish owing to inappropriate and frequently inaccurate public criticism from politicians, with insufficient governmental defence.

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