APPEAL judges referred a landmark case on journalists’ powers to keep information on people to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) today.

Businessman James Stunt brought a claim against Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday, for misuse of private information, harassment and breach of the Data Protection Act 1998.

Associated Newspapers applied for a stay of proceedings, granted last April, on the grounds that it concerned unpublished material held with a view to future publication.

High Court judge Mr Justice Popplewell said then: “Investigative journalism often requires acquiring and retaining data which is protected by the [Act] over a period of time” and could be “seriously hindered and discouraged” if Mr Stunt’s argument succeeded.

But the Court of Appeal was divided on whether the section of the Act which provides an automatic stay in relation to journalistic materials was in breach of the EU’s Data Protection Directive and referred the matter to the CJEU.