Malicious prosecution disclosure

McNally v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police (CA TLR 6 March)

In the light of the Human Rights Act 1998, a judge exercising a discretion to admit or exclude evidence concerning the identity of a police informer should balance the conflicting public interests in the protection of a police informer and in ensuring a fair trial by reference to the facts of the particular case. The list of possible circumstances in which such disclosure should prevail over the protection of informers contained in D v National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children ([1978] ACT 171, 218) was not exhaustive. The law had moved on, and had received a decisive impetus towards a more case-specific approach with the advent of human rights.