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Section 24 - National Security

Chapters: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | annex A | annex B | annex C

Chapter 02: What type of information may be covered by this exemption?

2.1 The term "National Security" has never been defined in UK legislation and both domestic and European courts have considered that the assessment of the threat to national security is essentially a matter for the executive. In addition, when considering safeguarding national security the courts have accepted that it is proper to take a precautionary approach [footnote 1]. That is, it is necessary not only to consider circumstances where actual harm has or will occur to national security, but also to consider preventing harm occurring and avoiding the risk of harm occurring.

2.2 This does not make national security an unfathomable abstract concept. Often it is easier to decide on whether particular information is a matter of national security than to define categories of information in advance. However, it is possible to infer certain statements about the meaning of the term from case law and statutes [footnote 2].

2.3 Taken together these statements about national security might form the basis for identifying the kind of information which falls into this category. For example that:

the security of the nation includes its well being and the protection of its defence and foreign policy interests, as well as its survival;
the nation does not refer only to the territory of the UK, but includes its citizens, wherever they may be, or its assets wherever they may be, as well as the UK's system of government; and
there are a number of matters which UK law expressly recognises as constituting potential threats to, or otherwise being relevant to, the safety or well-being of the nation, including terrorism, espionage, subversion, the pursuit of the Government's defence and foreign policies, and the economic well-being of the United Kingdom. But these matters are not exhaustive: the Government would regard a wide range of other matters as being capable of constituting a threat to the safety or well being of the nation. Examples include the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the protection of the Critical National Infrastructure, such as the water supply or national grid, from actions intended to cause catastrophic damage.

However, these examples are not exhaustive and each piece of information should be considered individually.

2.4 It should be noted that national security is not the same as the interests of the government of the day. Official information that would be embarrassing or inconvenient to the government if made public is not of itself a matter of national security.

2.5 It also needs to be borne in mind that the test for reliance on this exemption is that non-disclosure should be "required" for the purpose of safeguarding national security. That means that an authority must be prepared to demonstrate the need to withhold the information requested, and if steps could be taken to allow information to be disclosed while safeguarding national security in some other way, those steps will need to be considered.

Footnotes:

The House of Lord's Judgement in the appeal of Shafiq Ur Rehman against deportation, Secretary of State for the Home Department (11 October 2001 [2001] UKHL47).
E.g. Security Service Act 1989, Intelligence Services Act 1994, Radioactive substances Act 1993, Water Industry Act 1991, Control of Pollution Act 1974, Offshore Safety Act 1992, Town and Country Planning Act 1990.