Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

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...

Public Interest Immunity in disclosure: principles, procedure and court balancing; categories, waiver, and alternatives (CMP, confidentiality rings, undertakings, redaction), including Business & Property Courts considerations

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Practice notes

This Practice Note explores circumstances in which parties can resist disclosure and/or inspection of sensitive material on the basis of public interest immunity (PII). It outlines the steps for advancing a PII claim and securing the court’s leave to withhold documents. Waiver of PII is also addressed here. This Practice Note should be read alongside Practice Note: Closed Material Procedure.

What is public interest immunity (PII)?

A party may oppose the disclosure and/or inspection of a document where producing it would prejudice the public interest. That objection is characterised as reliance on PII, the ‘immunity’ describing the capacity to decline disclosure or to refuse permission for inspection of the material. It was formerly referred to as ‘crown privilege’. PII operates in both civil and criminal law settings. The ‘proper approach’ to PII, which deploys a three-stage test, is discussed in the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide, para 19.2.2 and following. In 1968, in Conway v Rimmer, the House of Lords, rejecting the prior position, permitted a court to examine documents in respect of which privilege against disclosure or inspection was claimed...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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