What Is a Super-Injunction? And Can You Get One for Defamation?

Super-injunctions are among the most powerful — and most misunderstood — legal orders available in England and Wales. They do not merely stop publication: they prevent anyone from reporting that the injunction exists. This guide explains what they are, when they are available, and what most people facing a defamation threat should actually apply for instead.

What Is a Super-Injunction?

A super-injunction is an interim injunction with an additional condition: the order itself, its terms, the identity of the applicant, and the subject matter of the prohibited publication must all remain secret. Even reporting the existence of the proceedings is prohibited. They attract intense controversy because they restrict not just the content complained of, but public knowledge of the court's own activities — placing significant tension with the principle of open justice.

When Are Super-Injunctions Granted?

Super-injunctions are granted only in exceptional circumstances — where even revealing that an injunction exists would undermine the purpose of seeking it. The Neuberger Committee Report (2011) recommended strict criteria, and courts now require High Court judge approval, time limitations, and urgent review. They are extremely rare in defamation cases specifically because courts are reluctant to prevent reporting of proceedings about false statements — unlike privacy cases, where disclosure of the subject matter itself could cause the harm being prevented.

Privacy Injunctions vs Defamation Injunctions

The high-profile celebrity cases that brought "super-injunctions" into public consciousness were predominantly privacy injunctions under the law of misuse of private information — not defamation injunctions. Privacy injunctions protect true but private information; defamation injunctions restrain false statements. Where you are trying to prevent publication of private information (whether true or not), an MPI injunction may be the more appropriate route.

What Most Claimants Should Actually Apply For

For the vast majority of defamation matters, the appropriate urgent remedy is a conventional interim injunction under the American Cyanamid principles — requiring you to demonstrate a serious issue to be tried, that damages would not be an adequate remedy, and that the balance of convenience favours the injunction. In genuine emergencies, a without-notice injunction can be granted on the same day of application. These injunctions can be highly effective without the exceptional (and difficult to meet) threshold for super-injunctions.

Related reading: Defamation injunctions guide | Privacy vs defamation | Defamation Act 2013