The News of the World is to defend itself against a privacy suit from formula one boss Max Mosley in the High Court today.
Mosley, president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body for formula One, is suing the Sunday tabloid for breach of privacy over allegations that he played Nazi games with prostitutes.
Tom Crone, the legal manager of the News of the World, said the paper would not comment on matters relating to evidence.
However, he said the paper believed a healthy society should respect the public's right to know "legitimate facts about the behaviour and activities of public figures and leaders".
"This case raises fundamental issues about the rapidly advancing law of privacy and the extent to which it allows powerful people to suppress information and stifle free speech," Crone said.
"Whilst the law was properly introduced to guarantee respect for private and family life, it is in danger of being hijacked by the rich, famous and influential for all the wrong reasons.
"The scale and ramifications of this case go way beyond this single story and are likely to affect every form of media from print to broadcast and particularly publishers of biographies of living people."
The case will be heard before Mr Justice Eady today.
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