Public policy

Police informer's action to recover contractual remuneration for information leading to conviction of drugs suppliers - police applying to strike out on grounds of public interest immunity - public interest requiring striking out of actionCarnduff v Rock and Another: CA (Lords Justice Waller, Laws and Jonathan Parker): 11 May 2001The claimant, a registered police informer, brought proceedings against the defendants, a police officer and the chief constable of a police force, alleging an agreement to provide the defendants with information to assist them to investigate crime in return for reasonable remuneration, and that he had provided the defendants with information which had led to the successful prosecution of several suppliers of illegal drugs.

The defendants, admitting that on occasions the claimant had received payment from them for information, denied that he was so entitled in the instant case.

On the claimant seeking disclosure of documents, the defendants applied to strike out the action on the ground, among other things, of public interest immunity.

The judge rejected the application.

The defendants appealed.Richard Perks (instructed by Sharpe Pritchard) for the defendants.

Nicholas Paul (instructed by George Jonas, Birmingham) for the claimant.Held, allowing the appeal (Lord Justice Waller dissenting), that the court had, at this stage of the action, to proceed on the basis that the claimant could establish the allegations against the defendants pleaded in his statement of claim; that resolving the dispute would transfer the difficult business of tracking and catching criminals from the confidential context of police operations to the public courts; and that, accordingly, to allow the claimant's allegations to be litigated was inconsistent with the public interest and thus his action had to be struck out.