He may be just one of more than 100 High Court judges but Sir David Eady, 65, is nonetheless arguably more influential than any of his colleagues. Almost single-handedly he is creating new privacy law. A series of rulings have caused some disquiet within the press — although Sir David, a quietly spoken courteous man, is tapping into a public distaste for invasions of privacy. In 2006 he granted a gagging order to a celebrity who had an affair with a married woman to prevent the wronged husband from selling his story and unmasking the well-known “family man”. In 2005 he ruled that passages of a book by the author Niema Ash about her former friend, the Canadian singer Loreena McKennitt, be removed on the ground that Ash had violated a duty of confidence; and awarded damages to a Saudi Arabian billionaire against the Wall Street Journal Europe over allegations that Saudi authorities were monitoring the bank accounts of prominent Saudis for links with terrorism. Of course, he is subject to higher courts — and this last was overturned by the law lords. But his influence is certainly being felt.

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