This paper outlines the ways in which the United Kingdom manages civil litigation concerning sensitive national security material. These are: the common law of public interest immunity, the use of closed material procedure and special advocates, and the secret hearings of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. With these existing alternatives in mind the paper analyses the background, the reasons for, and the controversies associated with the Justice and Security Act 2013, enacted in the wake of the UK Supreme Court’s 2011 ruling in Al Rawi v Security Service. The paper argues that, despite presenting a number of challenges, the Justice and Security Act is nothing like the threat to the rule of law that has been claimed by the legislation’s most vociferous critics.