Ryan Giggs, the Manchester United footballer recently obtained a super injunction. He was not the first celebrity to apply for such an injunction. Whilst the newspapers were keen to ensure that they abided by the High Court Order, a careful trawl on the web revealed the identity of Mr Giggs. It was quite easy to discover his identity on the social network site, Twitter.
Social networking sites play a very real part in the daily lives of so many people it is not surprising that as a Family Lawyer it is something my clients talk to me about more and more often.
It is fairly commonplace now at initial meetings for a client to raise matters relating to his or her partner’s comings and goings on line. This may take the form of photographs or comments being posted on Facebook or Twitter. A recent survey by Divorce On Line carried out in England said of over 200 petitions issued by women, in the first four months of this year, 15% of them cited their husband’s excessive computer use as a particular of unreasonable behaviour.
From citing as unreasonable behaviour to proving adultery and co-habitation, this changes something that as a petitioner we must be alive to and the concerns raised by a client, must be followed up and investigated thoroughly.
Notwithstanding this the same test, as is currently applied to all evidence, must be implemented.