This chapter explains the meaning of good governance and why it is important to uphold the standards of good governance, first discussing the standards of good governance, which include governing in the public interest; governing transparently; respecting the dignity, rights, and interests of individuals; and governing competently. It then turns to the concept and types of accountability, covering political accountability, legal accountability, and administrative accountability and audit.
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This chapter argues that relevant evidence must be excluded on the ground of public policy on certain conditions. It explores two of these conditions: when the evidence concerns certain matters of public interest considered to be more important than the full disclosure of facts to the court, and when it relates to miscellaneous matters connected with litigation. The chapter also discusses evidence that has been illegally obtained, though this topic is not usually covered under the umbrella of public policy. Although there is no comparably strict general exclusionary rule, it is increasingly the case that the courts recognize the existence of an exclusionary discretion. This is governed in part by weighing the public interest in the conviction of guilty criminals against the public interest in the preservation of basic civil liberties.
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This chapter first explains exclusion of evidence on the grounds of the PII doctrine in relation to the public interest in non-disclosure of documents. The chapter examines areas of public interest that are covered by possible PII claims. These include national security, defence and foreign policy, protection of children, the identity of police informers, and confidential records held by public bodies.
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Celebrated for their conceptual clarity, titles in the Clarendon Law Series offer concise, accessible overviews of major fields of law and legal thought. This chapter deals with the law of defamation. The basic rules of the common law of defamation state that: A is liable for saying anything to C about B which would be apt to make an average citizen think worse of the latter. In principle, B can sue A without having to show that what A said was false, that it caused him any harm, or that A was at any way at fault in saying it. The chapter distinguishes between what is ‘defamatory’ and what is not. It discusses the liability for the act of communication is called ‘publication’. It also considers defences: to apparent allegations of fact, the only defences are truth (called ‘justification’) and privilege; for statements of opinion, which cannot be false but at the most simulated, the defence is ‘fair comment on a matter of public interest’.
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Titles in the Core Text series take the reader straight to the heart of the subject, providing focused, concise, and reliable guides for students at all levels. This chapter discusses the following: the competence of witnesses in civil and criminal cases; the compellability of witnesses, and of the accused and the spouse or civil partner in criminal cases in particular; sworn and unsworn evidence; privileges enjoyed by certain categories of witness, focussing upon the privilege against self-incrimination, and legal professional privilege (in the form of both legal advice privilege and litigation privilege); and public interest immunity.
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Titles in the Core Text series take the reader straight to the heart of the subject, providing focused, concise, and reliable guides for students at all levels. This chapter discusses the following: the competence of witnesses in civil and criminal cases; the compellability of witnesses, and of the accused and the spouse or civil partner in criminal cases in particular; sworn and unsworn evidence; privileges enjoyed by certain categories of witness, focusing upon the privilege against self-incrimination, and legal professional privilege (in the form of both legal advice privilege and litigation privilege); and public interest immunity.
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Essential Cases: Public Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in R v Inspectorate of Pollution, ex parte Greenpeace Ltd (No. 2) [1994] 2 CMLR 548, High Court (Queen’s Bench Division). This case concerned whether organizations could demonstrate a sufficient interest for the purposes of bringing a judicial review on the basis of their expert knowledge and the public interest in bringing an application for review. The document also includes supporting commentary from author Thomas Webb.
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Essential Cases: Public Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in R v Inspectorate of Pollution, ex parte Greenpeace Ltd (No. 2) [1994] 2 CMLR 548, High Court (Queen’s Bench Division). This case concerned whether organizations could demonstrate a sufficient interest for the purposes of bringing a judicial review on the basis of their expert knowledge and the public interest in bringing an application for review. The document also includes supporting commentary and questions from author Thomas Webb.
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Essential Cases: Public Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in R v Inspectorate of Pollution, ex parte Greenpeace Ltd (No. 2) [1994] 2 CMLR 548, High Court (Queen’s Bench Division). This case concerned whether organizations could demonstrate a sufficient interest for the purposes of bringing a judicial review on the basis of their expert knowledge and the public interest in bringing an application for review. The document also includes supporting commentary and questions from author Thomas Webb.
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TT Arvind
Contract Law provides a uniquely practical approach to the topic; enriched with scenarios to support deep understanding of legal principles, analysis, and critique. The text is divided into four parts. Part I covers forming contracts. It looks at bargaining and agreeing, and the requirements of mutuality, legal relations, and non-contractual promises. Part II considers issues related to keeping contracts. It examines the assembling of the contract, interpreting the terms of a contract, flexible terms, and changes in contracts. The next part is about regulating contracts. It looks at untrue statements, the limits of hard bargaining, controlling contractual terms, and protecting the public interest. The final part is about enforcing contracts. The text here examines issues relating to breach of contract, compensatory remedies, non-compensatory remedies, and third party matters.
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This chapter first explains exclusion of evidence on the grounds of the public interest immunity (PII) doctrine in relation to the public interest in non-disclosure of documents. The chapter examines areas of public interest that are covered by possible PII claims. These include national security, defence and foreign policy, protection of children, the identity of police informers, and confidential records held by public bodies. The difference between PII and closed material procedures (CMPs) is outlined. The chapter, concentrating on civil cases, lists the landmarks in the evolution of the common law doctrine. It considers the extent which it has been influenced by the Strasbourg jurisprudence. Attention is given to the role of national security matters in the evolution of the law.
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18. Public interest immunity and privilege I
Public interest immunity
This chapter first discusses the different rules governing public interest immunity and privilege, focusing on the waiver of the right to withhold and the use of secondary evidence if the original is immune from production and inadvertent disclosure. It then turns to public interest in both civil and criminal cases, covering applications to withhold material subject to public interest immunity; ‘affairs of state’ cases; whether the court can question the claim to withhold and by what criteria the claim to withhold should be judged; closed material procedures; the use of methods such as redaction to minimise the effect of a refusal to disclose documents; information given for the detection of crime, etc.; and confidentiality.
Book
TT Arvind
Contract Law provides a uniquely practical approach to the topic. The text is divided into four parts. Part I covers forming contracts. It looks at bargaining and agreeing, and the requirements of mutuality, legal relations, and non-contractual promises. Part II considers issues related to keeping contracts. It examines the assembling of the contract, interpreting the terms of a contract, flexible terms, and changes in contracts. The next part is about regulating contracts. It looks at untrue statements, the limits of hard bargaining, controlling contractual terms, and protecting the public interest. The final part is about enforcing contracts. The text here examines issues relating to breach of contract, compensatory remedies, non-compensatory remedies, and third party matters.
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This chapter discusses the development of free movement of capital in the EU. It covers the scope of the provision on capital; national measures that are prohibited under Article 63 TFEU; express derogations and public interest requirements. The chapter begins by examining why free movement of capital is considered an important part of any trading area before briefly examining its evolution in the EU. The chapter then analyses the detail of the Treaty provisions on capital.
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This chapter discusses the development of free movement of capital in the EU. It covers the scope of the provision on capital; national measures that are prohibited under Article 63 TFEU; express derogations and public interest requirements. The chapter begins by examining why free movement of capital is considered an important part of any trading area before briefly examining its evolution in the EU. The chapter then analyses the detail of the Treaty provisions on capital.
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This chapter focuses on defamation which enables an individual (or, more controversially, a company) to prevent the publication of, or recover damages for, public statements which make, or are likely to make, people think less of them. At its heart is a balance between freedom of speech (protected under the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998) and the interests of an individual in the protection of their reputation. The chapter examines the Defamation Act 2013 and explains who can sue for, and be liable in, defamation, when a statement is ‘defamatory’ and innuendo. It also considers the defences of truth, honest opinion, publication in a matter of public interest and privilege. It concludes with a discussion of damages for defamation.
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Oke Odudu and Albert Sanchez-Graells
This chapter addresses the question of how EU law constrains State activity in respect of its spending decisions, through the control of State aid and through the obligations on the State to go through the process of public procurement when making significant spending decisions. The financial crisis and the pandemic have brought into sharp focus the importance of the rules and the scope for any exemptions. The chapter also explains how these rules have applied in the context of the provision of public services, in particular healthcare, a key social policy, as well as on the (financial) support to environmental sustainability.
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This chapter describes the emergence of judicial review and introduces procedural aspects of judicial review. The opening sections set the scene by tracing the general development of judicial review and by explaining the importance of the distinction between an appellate and a supervisory jurisdiction. .There is an assessment of the impact of the 1977 procedural reforms. In turn, this draws attention to the importance of the public/private law divide and the exclusivity principle set out by Lord Diplock in the pivotal case of O’Reilly v Mackman, as well as the exceptions to this rule in Davy v Spelthorne and Roy. Additional procedural requirements are considered including the general rules of standing as well as those that apply under the Human Rights Act. Fleet Street Casuals, World Development Movement, Rose Theatre, and ex p Greenpeace are among the cases discussed. The chapter also explains the significance of time limits and delay.
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Chapter 8 examines the doctrine of public interest immunity. It discusses the development of the law; ‘class’ claims and ‘contents’ claims; national security and analogous concerns; proper functioning of the public service; the two main contexts in which public interest immunity disputes in criminal cases have arisen—the disclosure of the identity of police informers, and the disclosure of the location of police observation points; how the doctrine of public interest immunity stands alongside, and probably overlaps with, the operations of the Freedom of Information Act 2000; and section 10 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, which governs the disclosure of sources of information contained in publications.
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This chapter begins with a discussion of the personal nature of the employment contract, and the fact that such a contract is necessarily one of personal service which gives rise to duties and obligations on both sides. It deals with issues such as the implied duties of the employer to provide for the employee (including the implied duty to provide work, pay wages, confidentiality, and the implied duty of trust and confidence), and the corresponding implied obligations of the employee (including the duty of faithful service, duty to use skill and care). There is also a discussion of whistleblowing and public interest disclosures. It then explains; employer’s vicarious liability; and statutory provisions relating to harassment.
