“The state is allowed to bug communication between lawyers and their clients, the House of Lords has said. The UK’s highest court ruled that spy law the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) allows lawyers’ conversations to be bugged.”
OUT-LAW.com, 23rd March 2009
Source: www.out-law.com
McE v Prison Service of Northern Ireland; C and A v Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland; M v Same [2009] UKHL 15; [2009] WLR(D) 90
“The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (‘RIPA’) permitted covert surveillance of communications between lawyers and their clients covered by legal professional privilege and notwithstanding any statutory rights of persons in custody to consult privately with their lawyers.”
WLR Daily, 12th March 2009
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
House of Lords
“Covert surveillance of communications between lawyers and their clients, covered by legal professional privilege, was permitted under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, notwithstanding any statutory rights of persons in custody to consult their lawyers in private.”
The Times, 12th March 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
Court of Appeal
“A person who made a complaint to the police, instigating an investigation which did not lead to a prosecution, was entitled to rely on the defence of absolute privilege if proceedings were subsequently brought.”
The Times, 27th August 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
West London Pipeline and Storage Ltd v Total UK Ltd [2008] EWHC 1729 (Comm); [2008] WLR (D) 248
“Guidance as to the principles applicable to determining a claim to litigation privilege.”
WLR Daily, 23rd July 2008
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
Westcott v Westcott [2008] EWCA Civ 818; [2008] WLR (D) 241
“A person who made a complaint to the police, thereby instigating a police investigation which did not lead to a prosecution, was entitled to rely on the defence of absolute privilege if defamation proceedings were subsequently brought.”
WLR Daily, 16th July 2008
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“Prison staff bugged conversations between a convicted killer and his solicitor without authorisation, Jack Straw admitted yesterday.”
The Times, 16th May 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Curistan v Times Newspapers Ltd
Court of Appeal
“The privilege which attached to a fair and accurate report of parliamentary proceedings was not necessarily lost because of the addition of extraneous nonprivileged material in the same article.”
The Times, 6th May 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
Curistan v Times Newspapers Ltd [2008] EWCA Civ 432; [2008] WLR (D) 135
“The qualified privilege which attached to a ‘fair and accurate’ report of parliamentary proceedings was not necessarily lost because of the addition of extraneous non-privileged material in the same article. Where an article consisted in part only of passages entitled to such privilege, the meaning of the non-privileged passages was to be ascertained on the basis that the privileged passages merely provided the context in which the other statements were made, and the repetition rule, under which for the purpose of libel law a hearsay statement was the same as a direct statement, had no application to the privileged passages.”
WLR Daily, 1st May 2008
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“The Law Society of England and Wales has formally applied for permission to intervene in a closely-watched European case that has threatened the ability of in-house lawyers to claim professional privilege.”
The Times, 10th March 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Expandable Ltd and Others v Rubin
Court of Appeal
“The mention of a document in a witness statement did not constitute an automatic waiver of legal professional privilege so as entitle the other party to inspection of it.”
The Times, 10th March 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
Privy Council
“The defence of qualified privilege established in Reynolds v Times Newspapers Ltd ([2001] 2 AC 127) was available not only to the press and broadcasting media but could also extend to the publication by any person of material of public interest.”
The Times, 15th February 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
Expandable Ltd and others v Rubin [2008] EWCA Civ 59; [2008] WLR (D) 42
“The words ‘he wrote to me … drawing my attention to discrepancies’ in a witness statement were sufficient to amount to mention of a document for the purposes of CPR r 31.14(1), but such mere mention did not constitute an automatic waiver of the legal professional privilege attaching to the document, so as to entitle a party to inspect it pursuant to the rule.”
WLR Daily, 12th February 2008
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“Companies get no warning about early morning raids by authorities, but they can put in place procedures to deal with them.”
The Times, 11th December 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“Lawyers have long argued that there is absolute protection against the publication of legally privileged advice. Robert Verkaik, Law Editor, finds a case which challenges this.”
The Independent, 7th December 2007
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“The confidential protection enjoyed by lawyers over their communications does not extend to in-house lawyers, the European Court of First Instance ruled yesterday.”
The Times, 17th September 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Extent of without-prejudice privilege before dispute
Barnetson v. Framlington Group Ltd. and Another
Court of Appeal
“When considering whether evidence of prelitigation disputes between the parties should be excluded under without-prejudice privilege, the critical feature of proximity to the litigation was the subject matter of the dispute rather than how long before the threat or start of litigation the matter was aired in negotiations between the parties.”
The Times, 11th June 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
Complaints to police are privileged
Buckley v. Dalziel and Another
Queen’s Bench Division
“Absolute privilege and immunity from suit were available to a person who provided information to the police to set in motion the process of an inquiry into possible illegality.”
The Times, 7th June 2007
Source: www.thetimesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
Framlington Group Ltd. and another v. Barnetson [2007] EWCA Civ 502
“An employee’s discussions with his employer about the scope of his entitlement on the employment contract were inadmissible as ‘without prejudice’ communications even though at the time they occurred there was no litigation in prospect and no basis for litigation at the time they took place.”
WLR Daily, 24th May 2007
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
© Inner Temple Library 2025