“The case was concerned with a search warrant executed at residential premises. In support of the application for the warrant the Chief Constable of Merseyside Police had placed before the Justice of the Peace certain material which, he later contended, attracted Public Interest Immunity and ought not to be disclosed to the homeowner. The matter came before the Administrative Court after the homeowner issued an application to judicially review the warrant. In handing down his judgment on 21 August 2020, Chamberlain J took the opportunity to address three important aspects of such challenges. He reiterated the substantive issues to be considered when deciding whether to uphold an assertion of Public Interest Immunity. He reviewed the recent authorities on the approach to be taken by the court in deciding whether to uphold a Public Interest Immunity claim in the context of the judicial review of a search warrant. And he gave practical guidance on the mechanics of how the substantive judicial review hearing should be conducted where a PII claim has already been upheld and where the material attracting PII is to be considered in a Closed Material Proceeding or CMP ...”
ADDED Wednesday 11th November 2020
