Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

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...

Whistleblowing and official secrets: PIDA/ERA protections, OSA 1989 and National Security Act 2023 offences, defences, Article 10 ECHR, authorisation and practical guidance for civil servants, police and government contractors

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Practice notes

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The Public interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA 1998)

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA 1998) introduced provisions into the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996) to protect workers who make protected disclosures, enabling 'whistleblowers' to bring a claim before an employment tribunal for detriment and/or Dismissal arising from raising a concern in the public interest. Employees of the security and intelligence services and members of the UK armed forces are excluded from these provisions. Civil servants, police officers and government contractors may lodge a claim provided they have not been carved out by a ministerial certificate. Although disclosures to the media or the wider public can be protected, an individual who commits a criminal offence when making the disclosure will not benefit from protection. Accordingly, workers arrested for any offence linked to the disclosure must wait for proceedings to conclude before issuing a PIDA claim. Civil servants, police officers and government contractors who might otherwise seek protection must also take care not to breach the Official Secrets Act 1989 (OSA 1989) or the National Security Act 2023 (NSA 2023)...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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