BBC refusal to disclose report returns to the High Court

BBC refusal to disclose report returns to the High Court

A legal bid to force publication of a BBC review of its Middle East reporting has received a boost from Law Lords.

The case will return to the High Court after the lords voted 3-2 that it was wrongly blocked by past legal rulings.

London lawyer Steven Sugar wants 2004's so-called Balen report published under the Freedom of Information Act.

He wants it to be part of the debate about alleged anti-Israeli bias at the BBC. The corporation says the internal review was never meant to be seen.

After initially being dismissed by the Information Commissioner, Mr Sugar's request to see the report gained the backing of the Information Tribunal.

The BBC's subsequent appeal against that decision was upheld by the High Court in 2007, backed by the Appeal Court last year.

Lords send BBC back to High Court (BBC News, 11 February 2009)