In the context of secrecy laws, a public interest defence is a

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

that allows a

defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one juris ...

who disclosed classified or protected information to avoid criminality by establishing that the public interest in disclosure of the information outweighs the public interest in nondisclosure. It is aimed at protecting

whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

s of government misconduct. The inclusion of the defence was a subject of debate in the legislative process of the

Official Secrets Act 1989 The Official Secrets Act 1989 (c. 6) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that repeals and replaces section 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911, thereby removing the public interest defence created by that section. Lord Bingha ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The defence was not included in the final Act. The defence was also absent in secrecy laws in other countries that were based on the Act.

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

has reformed its secrecy laws in 2001 by adding the defence in its Security of Information Act. However, its application is limited to situations in which the

has followed a series of steps set out in the legislation before making the disclosure, and the person's purpose in making the disclosure is to reveal an offence committed by another person in their official duties. The inclusion of the defence has been a subject of debate in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

in 2003 during its legislative process to implement

Article 23 of the Basic Law Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 () is an article in the Basic Law, the constitution of Hong Kong. It states that Hong Kong "shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People's ...

in the

media in Hong Kong Hong Kong's media consists of several different types of communications of mass media: television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, websites and other online platforms. Overview Hong Kong is home to many of Asia's biggest media entities ...

. The US does not have a public interest defence.

Edward Snowden Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American and naturalized Russian former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and s ...

, a NSA contractor who leaked classified documents in the public interest, said he will return to the US and stand trial if he is allowed a public interest defence. Snowden has been living abroad since 2013.

References

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External links

HKSAR Government's view on the public interest defence
Criminal defenses Canadian criminal law Criminal law of the United Kingdom Interest defence