Confidentiality v public interest

Mitchell v News Group Newspapers Ltd; Rowland v Mitchell [2014] All ER (D) 273 (Mar); NLJ 11 April

It was settled law that those who made statements to the police, or gave information as witnesses, might do so in circumstances where an equitable obligation of confidence was owed to them. Where that was the case, there were two competing public interests to be balanced: (i) on the one hand the public interest of maintaining the confidentiality of those who made statements to the police in the course of a criminal investigation; and (ii) on the other hand, the public interest of ensuring that as far as possible the courts tried civil claims on the basis of all the relevant material and thus had the best prospect of reaching a fair result.