It further investigates whether the right to freedom of expression or the right to privacy is paramount the brief will attempt to show that the courts developed tests to determine which right should reign supreme in any given situation introduction the uk adopted the echr by enacting the human rights act hra in 1998 the hra came into full effect on 2 october 2000 watson states that . 18 july 2018 o 645pm t he delicate balance between a persons right to privacy and someone elses right to freedom of expression were set at odds when they were enshrined in the human rights act. As the erudite authors point out privacy and freedom of expression were two of the most important rights introduced into english law by the human rights act 1998 hra and add that the question of the balancing of these two rights has been central to the development of the new law of privacy and increasingly influencing the development of the english law of defamation. Article 10 of the human rights act freedom of expression 1 everyone has the right to freedom of expression this right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers