Super-Injunction
An interim injunction that not only prohibits publication of the information in question but also prohibits reporting the existence of the injunction and the proceedings themselves, so the order's very existence remains secret.
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
Ordinary privacy injunctions stop a defendant publishing specific private or confidential information, but they do not stop anyone reporting that an injunction exists at all. A super-injunction goes further: the Report of the Committee on Super-Injunctions defines it as 'an interim injunction which restrains a person from: (i) publishing information which concerns the applicant and is said to be confidential or private; and (ii) publicising or informing others of the existence of the order and the proceedings.' The Report distinguishes this from a related but weaker order — 'an anonymised injunction is an interim injunction which restrains a person from publishing information which concerns the applicant' but does not conceal the existence of the proceedings themselves, merely the identity of the parties.
Following the 2011 controversy over their use by celebrities and companies, the Committee — chaired by the then Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger — recommended that super-injunctions should be granted only rarely and for short, strictly time-limited periods, with the media given advance notice of applications wherever possible so that the principle of open justice was not undermined by surprise, near-permanent secrecy orders.
Related terms
Official sources
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