Informed NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE issue 39 April 2022 Mark Tomas


Robin Ackroyd and Shiv Malik in coming to his decision (see Tim’s report page 10). Free speech and a free press do not come cheap. Although winning the case, it has cost the NUJ approximately £70,000 and the bill could have been much higher if the union had had to appeal the ruling. Chris Mullin, in an interview with Tim, revealed that if the judgment had been against him, he would have continued to protect his sources despite the possible sanction of being sent to jail. Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general


Mullin court victory celebrated by union


Chris Mullin was congratulated for resisting a West Midland Police production order to hand over his research material and commended for his “steadfastness as an example to any journalist who is pressured to reveal their sources” by the union’s national executive council (NEC). Te former MP and member of the union for more than 50 years had been supported by the NUJ in his bid to protect the sources from his investigative work which led to the exposure of the wrongful arrest of the Birmingham Six who served nearly 17 years behind bars in one of the worst miscarriages of British justice system, following an IRA bomb in a Birmingham pub in 1974 which had been responsible for the- deaths of 21 people and serious injuries to 200 others. Te NUJ had supported Chris Mullin’s pursual by the police since 2019. Following a hearing at London’s Old Bailey


Also in this issue:


Pay Talks Page 06


last month, Judge Mark Lucraſt declined to grant the production order, sought under the Terrorism Act 2000, and his judgment emphatically upheld the right of a journalist to protect their sources. Chris Mullin investigated the Birmingham Six’s case and made his own investigations into who the real perpetrators of the bombings were in a series of documentaries for Granada TV and his book Error of Judgement. During the NEC’s discussions of the


court case, former NUJ president Tim Dawson pointed out that much of the judgment had depended upon case law established by the NUJ, including the similar trial of Bill Goodwin which established the right to free expression, enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights, guaranteeing a journalist’s right to protect their sources. Judge Lucraſt also cited the NUJ-backed resistance to production order cases of


Legal Treats Page 08


secretary, said: “I also commend Chris’s bravery and doggedness. It is a hugely important case and further strengthens one of the NUJ’s most important principles about the protection of sources. As Chris has said, without being able to guarantee that, many people would not tell their story and other miscarriages of justice and scandals revealed by whistleblowers would not see the light of day. “Much of defence of journalists’ rights has been financed with NUJ members’ subscriptions and taking up these cases can oſten be an uncertain venture – but we will always defend these fundamental rights as journalists are increasing facing legal challenges from aggressive litigants trying to stop them doing their work.” Chris Mullin said what he had done had been overwhelmingly in the public interest and that Judge Lucraſt had used a lot of the discretion provided in the Terrorism Act 2000 in his favour. Te NEC applauded journalists


operating in Ukraine who were risking their lives in pursuit of the truth. It offered sincere condolences to the loved ones of those media workers who have been killed covering the war, and paid tribute to their bravery and commitment. A safety fund to help media workers has been set up, see page 4.


Under Fire Page 10


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