The top judge in England and Wales has criticised politicians for using the protection of parliamentary privilege to reveal details of super-injunctions.
Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge criticised MPs and peers for "flouting a court order just because they disagree with a court order or for that matter because they disagree with the law of privacy which Parliament has created".
Yesterday Lib Dem peer Lord Stoneham used the protection of parliamentary privilege to reveal allegations that former RBS boss Sir Fred Goodwin (pictured) had taken out a super injunction to conceal an affair with a colleague at the bank.
The gagging orders prevent the media from reporting the fact that an individual has taken out a gagging order as well as reporting what the allegation is.
But parliamentarians are safe from libel actions against anything they say during parliamentary proceedings and the media are free to report what they say.
Lib Dem MP John Hemming has twice revealed details of the gagging orders including one that alleged Sir Fred had sought to prevent him being referred to as a "banker" in the press.
The concerns over politicians breaching court orders came as Lord Neuberger, the senior civil judge in England and Wales, published a review into the operation of super-injunctions.
The review suggests MPs and peers are only protected by privilege if the comments made are "in good faith and without malice".
Speaking to the media at a press conference this morning Lord Judge said: "It is, of course, wonderful for you if a Member of Parliament stands up in Parliament and says something which in effect means an order of the court on anonymity is breached.
"But you do need to think, do you not, whether it's a very good idea for our law makers to be flouting a court order just because they disagree with a court order or for that matter because they disagree with the law of privacy which Parliament has created."
Senior judges are set to meet with the Commons Speaker John Bercow to discuss the breaching of injunctions by MPs and peers amid concerns the judiciary is attempting to censor Parliament.
Conservative MP Douglas Carsewell said judges had become a "law unto themselves". Writing on his blog he said: Bercow should remind them that the Commons is elected – and it is their Lordships appetite for self-aggrandisement that has left them looking asinine.
But Labour MP Chuka Ummana took to Twitter to say he did not think it "desirable or healthy for parliamentarians to abuse parliamentary privilege to break Court injunctions".
He later added: "If MPs and peers use parliamentary privilege to flout Court injunctions, that is a serious breach of the separation of powers"
Twitter and social media has presented a problem for the courts as they are harder to police than the mainstream media.
Recently an anonymous Twitter account published details of individuals alleged to have taken out super-injunctions.
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