UK Restricts Photographers (Even More)

Date: June 16, 2009; Discussion: 0 Comments

As many photographers in the UK or elsewhere have likely already heard, the UK has put extra restrictions on photographers. Photographers are now banned from photographing “sensitive” areas in the city of London, and the legislation may be present in other parts of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Ironically, when The British Journal of Photography attempted to get a list or definition of what constituted as a “sensitive” area, as well as information regarding how far-reaching this legislation is, the government kept mum. We can take an educated guess, though, that the banned areas are primarily military bases, police and emergency stations and possibly certain other governmental buildings. The question is should photographers obey the law?

Individual photographers will have to make up their minds on that, but the fact is this new law falls well within the UK’s freedom of expression laws. Wikipedia offers a succinct summary:

“Regarded as one of the most important human rights, the courts have stated that there is no difference between the protection offered by the common law, and that guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights[5]. The freedom of expression of Members of Parliament is encouraged and guaranteed by parliamentary privilege.

The right can be restricted where it is justified in the public interest, for example where national security concerns prevail (see the case of Ponting) or where countervailing interests of privacy, public order or religious tolerance must take priority. In addition, the law may also require that in certain situations information is kept confidential or may place a restriction on its dissemination.”—Wiki on Freedom of Expression in the UK

This new restriction on photographers—just one of many in Britain—does not breach the UK’s concepts regarding freedom of expression, as the excuse used for these bans is, of course, national security. (When is it not?)

British photographers would do well to seek stronger press and artistic freedom rights, regardless of whether they intend to knowingly ignore and/or blatantly fight these laws or not. These two recent laws, in particular, which ban areas unknown to the photographer and ban individuals from taking photographs of police, create an interesting and dangerous case for photographic and artistic rights, if not civil liberties on the whole.

Follow The British Journal of Photography website for the latest news regarding this and other photographic issues of the region.

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