Public interest defence (original) (raw)

In the context of secrecy laws, a public interest defence is a defence that allows a defendant 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 whistleblowers of government misconduct. The inclusion of the defence has been a subject of debate in Hong Kong in 2003 during its legislative process to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law in the media in Hong Kong.