Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

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Key definition

Public interest definition

What does Public interest mean? In practice, public interest describes the genuine societal value in publishing or disclosing information because it contributes to public debate, democratic accountability, public health and safety, or the exposure of wrongdoing or hypocrisy. It is not the same as material that is merely scandalous, entertaining, or “interesting to the public”. In defamation, it underpins a defence to publication: in England and Wales the statutory defence in section 4 of the Defamation Act 2013 requires a reasonable belief that publication was in the public interest; courts assess all the circumstances (including subject matter, steps to verify, urgency, tone, and whether comment was...

National Security and Closed Material Procedure under CPR 82/JSA 2013: Section 6 Declarations, Withholding Applications, Case Management, Special Advocates, and Closed Hearings (England and Wales)

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Practice notes

This Practice Note examines the closed material procedure (CMP) under CPR 82, by which the state may present material sensitive to national security to a judge without revealing it to opposing parties. It further explains how to apply to withhold such national security sensitive material pursuant to CPR 82.13.

The closed material procedure (CMP)—evolution and rationale

The state has long protected matters touching national security by asserting public interest immunity (PII), shielding related information and documents—see Practice Note: Public interest immunity. Where a PII claim succeeded, national security-sensitive material remained concealed, as the documents were withheld from everyone and excluded entirely from the issues before the court, having no influence on the dispute. Yet the state could not rely on them either, because the PII certificate kept them out of the case. If, on the other hand, a PII claim failed, the documents became disclosable to all litigants. The state then faced a stark dilemma: either discontinue the proceedings or release the sensitive documents. Accordingly, those documents would not surface in evidence, would not be deployed by any party, and would have no bearing on the issues determined therein...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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