St Mary's: Royal Courts of Justice 'sets aside' Order against ICN

Royal Courts of Justice

The Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand today 'set aside' an Order which had been served on Independent Catholic News editor Josephine Siedlecka, compelling her to reveal the name of someone who had written a letter that she had edited and published on the site with 'name and address withheld'.

Ms Siedlecka had refused to comply with the order on the grounds that journalists must not name sources.

The 'Norwich Pharmacol Order' had been issued on behalf of the Principal and two staff members of St Mary's University College, Twickenham. The Order is a legal tool used to discover the identity of third parties moving online files, or writing comments on blogs or unmonitored open forums. The Court set aside the Order because it is not applicable in the case of a news service like ICN and had been incorrectly applied.

Josephine Siedlecka was represented by Barrister Simon Butler. She said: "I may write more about this in future, but in the meantime I'd just like to say a huge thank you to so many people who have been so supportive in so many ways with prayers, messages of support and petitioning on my behalf."