An assessment of the criminal law’s protection of privacy and reputation rights

Reid, Robbie George (2025) An assessment of the criminal law’s protection of privacy and reputation rights. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis seeks to provide a critical assessment of the criminal law’s protection of two fundamental interests: privacy and reputation. While protection of these interests is traditionally rooted in the civil law and there has been considerable scholarship in this context, the extent to which the criminal law upholds and protects these interests remains under-researched. This is particularly so in Scotland, where much of the criminal law continues to be part of the common law and has developed from historical principles and precedents.

This is an appropriate time at which to carry out this research. Privacy and reputation interests have become increasingly valuable and are recognised as fundamental rights, receiving protected status in international human rights instruments. These interests have nevertheless become more vulnerable to harmful conduct and subject to greater levels of interference. Technological advancements, the growth of social media, and the collection and retention of personal data all pose significant threats to privacy and reputation.

These developments have been accompanied by some legislative intervention in Scots law (e.g. the introduction of offences combatting stalking, the non-consensual distribution of intimate images, stirring up hatred). While these offences may have some bearing on privacy and reputation, there has been no principled consideration of how these interests arespecifically protected (nor how they ought to be protected) by the criminal law. Moreover, despite recent reform of defamation law in Scotland resulting in the introduction of the Defamation and Malicious Publication (Scotland) Act 2021, this did not take account of the role that may be played by the criminal law.

This research seeks to address these shortcomings by establishing a normative basis for protecting these interests through the criminal law. It argues that there is scope for the criminal law to play a greater role in regulating violations of three interests: informational privacy, physical privacy, and reputation. This argument is developed, firstly, by reference to fundamental criminalisation principles (wrongfulness, harmfulness and culpability) and, secondly, the impact that this may have in terms of conveying the seriousness of such wrongsand facilitating practical improvements for victims of privacy and reputation violations.It is concluded that this would overcome some of the existing limitations in the legal mechanisms through which these rights are protected, as identified through a detailed evaluation of relevant criminal and civil wrongs undertaken in this thesis.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Supported by funding from the Carnegie Trust.
• Subjects: K Law > K Law (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Law
• Funder's Name: Carnegie Trust (CARNEGTR)
• Supervisor's Name: Chalmers, Professor James and Leverick, Professor Fiona
• Date of Award: 2025
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2025-85103
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 02 May 2025 08:05
• Last Modified: 02 May 2025 08:10
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.85103
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/85103