Even if the info is against the public interest to publish, it can still be proved that there is a greater public interest to publish it.
House of Lords; ‘disclosure of inequity (evil) might be a valid defence’
If confident info is disclosed to expose wrongdoings of others then the disclosure may be justified
In order to use defence must be:
Lord Keith: ‘a prima facie case that the allegations have a substance’ i.e. there must be actual evidence, not word of mouth
The fact that disclosures come from a member of security services alone doesn’t create a prima facie case in Spycather case. Lord Griffiths, Lord Goff: disclosures should be made primarily to people in a position to investigate the wrongdoing; not the national press
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