Law Lords Affirm Privilege Ruling

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

15 November 2004

Law Lords in the United Kingdom on Thursday reaffirmed the status quo regarding legal advice privilege between lawyer and client.

In an unusual move in July of this year, the Law Lords signalled their intention to overturn an earlier Appeals Court ruling which significantly limited the scope of legal advice that can be protected under privilege rules.

Observers suggested at the time that Lords Brown, Carswell and Rodger, and Lady Hale agreed to indicate the likely content of their reasoned judgement because of the implications that the ruling would have for the litigation against the Bank of England over the collapse of BCCI.

Ruling on communications between the Bank of England and its legal team at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer relating to the Bingham Inquiry into the BCCI collapse, the Court of Appeals argued that legal privilege should only be extended to advice "related to legal rights and obligations", and that therefore the bank should turn over the correspondence requested by the Three Rivers Council.

However, as a result of the Law Lords' decision, confirmed last week, the documents in question will now be covered by legal advice privilege, and will therefore be undisclosable.

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