§ Sir Anthony Kershawasked the Attorney-General why no criminal action was brought against The Guardian in respect of its publication of the secret minute passed to it by Miss Tisdall.
§ The Attorney-GeneralWhenThe Guardian published the secret minute in full on 31 October 1983 it was appreciated for the first time that the newspaper must have the document or a copy in its possession. Following its disclosure, the prime consideration was to discover the source of the leak, who was apparently in a sensitive position, so that if he or she were not discovered national security would have been at stake. To that end I considered that the appropriate action was to compel surrender of the document through the civil courts. Despite its continued opposition The Guardian was compelled to hand over the minute after the hearing by the Court of Appeal on 16 December 1983. Miss Tisdall was eventually discovered 305W after the photocopy could be examined. The view was taken that hers was the primary offence and she was duly prosecuted. So far as The Guardian staff were concerned, in addition to the possible evidential difficulties in establishing a case against them, there was not the same element of breach of trust and there was also the fact that the evidence against them had been obtained by a civil compulsory process. In the circumstances it was not thought right to prosecute them.