CFA's may be in defiance of European convention

Guardian media reports that the high cost of the so called conditional fee agreements is reducing newspapers ability to uphold their position as the fourth estate.

The paper cites the verdict of an Oxford University study that

the use of conditional fee agreements – which enable lawyers to take libel cases against newspapers on a no win, no fee basis – is leaving newspapers "shackled" and unable to act as public watchdogs.

Apart from that the study commissioned by the Daily Mail believes that

use of CFAs potentially contravened articles 6 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights in defamation and privacy cases.