Under common law

Common law

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

, public-interest privilege prevents the compulsory disclosure of documents or information which is against the public interest. There is a balance between public interests- if the public interest in secrecy is greater than the public interest in disclosure, it will be privileged. The public interest in disclosure is the principle that a court of justice ought not be denied access to relevant information, and that the opposing party should have access to all relevant information to make their case.

Unlike other privileges, this right is not vested in any party or entity. The court may, of its own motion, prevent admission of evidence if it thinks it may disclose privileged information. The government need not be a party to proceedings for privilege to be raised. Privilege, being vested in the public interest and not a party, cannot be waived by a party. However, if the information has been published elsewhere this is a very strong factor towards the public interest of disclosure.

This privilege may be claimed on two bases. Firstly, that the documents belong to a class of documents which the public interest requires should not be disclosed. In Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, even for documents belonging to a very high level documents, such as cabinet papers, the court must interrogate whether it really is prejudicial to the public interest to disclose it. Australian judges in general have been more willing to disclose information than judges in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 or Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

See also

• Privilege
  Privilege
  A privilege is a special entitlement to immunity granted by the state or another authority to a restricted group, either by birth or on a conditional basis. It can be revoked in certain circumstances. In modern democratic states, a privilege is conditional and granted only after birth...
  
   in general
• State Secrets Privilege
  State Secrets Privilege
  The state secrets privilege is an evidentiary rule created by United States legal precedent. Application of the privilege results in exclusion of evidence from a legal case based solely on affidavits submitted by the government stating that court proceedings might disclose sensitive information...
  
  , the United States
  United States
  The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
  
  equivalent