header-logo header-logo

In the public interest?

08 February 2013 / David Burrows
Issue: 7547 / Categories: Features , Child law , Family
printer mail-detail
136851159_2

Should vulnerable people who provide information on alleged abuse be entitled to public interest immunity? David Burrows investigates

In Re A (A Child) [2012] UKSC 60 (heard as Re J (A Child: Disclosure) (Rev 1) [2012] EWCA Civ 1204 in the Court of Appeal in September) the Supreme Court was called upon to balance the interests of justice against, or alongside, the welfare of a child. In so doing, the welfare of the child concerned seems to have been connoted entirely with justice (“the interests of that little girl…in having an allegation properly investigated and tested” (para [1])) rather than in the abstract: the public interest in ensuring that those with information about abuse of children come forward (per D v National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children [1978] AC 171). A chance to reassert the public interest immunity established in that case, in slightly different circumstances, not attempted by the Court of Appeal, was not taken by the Supreme Court either.

The court made relatively short work of dismissing

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll