History
PII was previously known as Crown privilege, and derived from the same principle as the immunity of the Crown from prosecution before the Crown Proceedings Act 1947. However, PII is not limited to the Crown (see the NSPCC case mentioned below), and cannot be waived save in exceptional circumstances.
A number of PII certificates were signed in relation to the prosecutions of individuals involved in the Matrix Churchill "Arms to Iraq" case, a subject that was subsequently investigated in the Scott Report.
Read more about this topic: Public-interest Immunity
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“This above all makes history useful and desirable: it unfolds before our eyes a glorious record of exemplary actions.”
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