A review headed by one of the most senior judges in England and Wales, Lord Neuberger, is expected to recommend that the media should be allowed into court hearings where celebrities seek gagging orders to keep their private lives secret. But they would still face restrictions on what they could report.

It comes after a series of incidents in which the details of injunctions were revealed in the House of Lords or leaked online.

Former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer told Evan Davis that the current system still worked and judges must weigh up the need for privacy and public interest in each case.

"Some things you do in your life are private and should be kept confidential," he said, arguing that journalists were still willing to respect the decisions of the courts.

But the former editor of the Sun, Kelvin Mackenzie disagreed, arguing that privacy law in Britain was a "dangerous farce."

"I think it's a ludicrous idea to... have some 70 year old judge sitting there trying to balance up some kind of bizarre morality he has and then forcing it onto a wider world."

He said journalists and technology were "battering" the law as freedom of speech and online media brought down governments across the world.

While conceding that some degree of privacy was required in regard to medical cases, he insisted that compensation should only be granted after publication.

"Maximum freedom" would soon mean people forgot about the private lives of footballers.

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