Phillips v News Group Newspapers Ltd and another – WLR Daily

Phillips v News Group Newspapers Ltd and another [2012] UKSC 28 ; [2012] WLR (D) 193

“The privilege against self-incrimination did not entitle a private investigator to refuse to comply with an order in civil proceedings requiring him to disclose the identity of those who had instructed him to intercept mobile phone voicemail messages containing confidential information of a commercial nature.”

WLR Daily, 4th July 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Bar Council Calls for Government to Protect Civil Liberties – The Bar Council

Posted April 5th, 2012 in human rights, investigatory powers, news, privilege, public interest by sally

“The Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, has called for the Government to amend further the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) to protect civil liberties and open justice.”

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The Bar Council, 4th April 2012

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

OFT’s ‘adversarial’ approach meant witness documents do not have to be disclosed, CAT rules – OUT-LAW.com

Posted March 28th, 2012 in competition, disclosure, news, privilege, tribunals, witnesses by sally

“A supermarket does not have to hand over notes from discussions with witnesses to the Office of Fair Trading as part of an ongoing legal dispute because the information was protected by ‘litigation privilege’, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has ruled.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 27th March 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

Tribunal hands down key privilege ruling in OFT dairy pricing case – Legal Week

Posted March 26th, 2012 in competition, news, price fixing, privilege, tribunals by sally

“The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has held that confidentiality under litigation privilege applies to Competition Act investigations, in a key ruling in the Office of Fair Trading’s (OFT’s) long-running investigation into dairy retail pricing.”

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Legal Week, 26th March 2012

Source: www.legalweek.com

Flood v Times Newspapers, Supreme Court allows “Reynolds” appeal – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted March 22nd, 2012 in defamation, news, privilege, public interest, Supreme Court by sally

“In a unanimous decision ([2012] UKSC 11) the Supreme Court allowed the appeal of Times Newspapers Limited against a decision of the Court of Appeal ([2010] EWCA Civ 804) which had held that it could not rely on Reynolds qualified privilege. The Supreme Court restored the decision of Mr Justice Tugendhat ([2009] EWHC 2375 (QB)) who had ruled, on the hearing of a preliminary issue, that the Times was entitled to rely on the defence of Reynolds qualified privilege in relation to the printed publication of the article about the claimant.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 22nd March 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Flood v Times Newspapers Ltd – WLR Daily

Posted March 22nd, 2012 in defamation, law reports, privilege, public interest, Supreme Court by sally

Flood v Times Newspapers Ltd [2012] UKSC 11; [2012] WLR (D) 93

“A publisher was protected from liability for defamation when it published an article containing allegations of corruption against a named police officer, even though the allegations were subsequently held to be unfounded, if it could be shown that the issues raised in the article were matters of public interest and that at the time of publication it appeared to the publishers that there was a strong circumstantial case for believing the allegations to be true.”

WLR Daily, 21st March 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Flood v The Times: Reynolds privilege defence is back – The Guardian

Posted March 21st, 2012 in appeals, defamation, internet, media, news, police, privilege by sally

“The supreme court’s unanimous decision in Flood v Times Newspapers, handed down on Wednesday, gives some comfort to the media in what are otherwise gloomy times for journalists when the reputation of the news gathering and reporting trade, mid-Leveson inquiry, is hanging by a thread and the threat of statutory regulation looms large.”

Full story

The Guardian, 21st March 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Protect legal privilege, bar urges government – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted February 10th, 2012 in investigatory powers, legal profession, news, privilege by tracey

“The Bar Council has urged the government to protect the right of citizens to hold private conversations with their lawyers. The call, supported the Law Society, comes as the proposed Protection of Freedoms Bill, intended to protect people from unwarranted state intrusion in their private lives, goes through parliament.”

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Law Society’s Gazette. 9th February 2012

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Coogan v News Group Newspapers Ltd and another; Phillips v Same – WLR Daily

Coogan v News Group Newspapers Ltd and another; Phillips v Same [2011] EWCA Civ 48; [2012] WLR (D) 18

“The phrase ‘technical or commercial information or other intellectual property’ within the definition of ‘intellectual property’ in section 72 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 was apt to embrace telephone voice messages said to have been intercepted by a private investigator on the telephones of individuals; and the effect of that finding was that the privilege against self-incrimination on which the interceptor might otherwise have relied was removed.”

WLR Daily, 1st February 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Bar Council – Private Legal Advice Must be Protected – The Bar Council

Posted February 3rd, 2012 in barristers, confidentiality, investigatory powers, news, police, privilege by sally

“Following a report published today by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) on the use of undercover police officers, the Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, has urged the Government to protect the fundamental right of citizens to hold private conversations with their lawyers.”

Full story

The Bar Council, 2nd February 2012

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

Coogan and Phillips v NGN – give a thought to the under-privileged – Kirsten Sjovoll – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted February 2nd, 2012 in appeals, interception, news, privilege, self-incrimination, telecommunications by sally

“The Court of Appeal today (1 February) dismissed Mr Glenn Mulcaire’s appeal against an order that he provide information to claimants in the phone hacking litigation. The Court (Lord Judge, Lord Neuberger and Maurice Kay LJ) unanimously upheld the rulings of Mann J and Vos J that, as a result of the operation of section 72 of the Senior Courts Act 1981, Mr Mulcaire was not entitled to rely on his privilege against self-incrimination (‘PSI’).”

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UK Human Rights Blog, 1st February 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

CoA ruling on Mulcaire privilege case imminent – The Lawyer

Posted January 26th, 2012 in appeals, news, private investigators, privilege, self-incrimination by sally

“The Court of Appeal will next Wednesday (1 February) decide whether the private investigator at the centre of the News of the World (NoW) phone hacking scandal must disclose who instructed him to intercept voicemails.”

Full story

The Lawyer, 26th January 2012

Source: www.thelawyer.com

Phone-hacking scandal: Judgement on Mulcaire reserved – BBC News

Posted November 29th, 2011 in appeals, interception, news, privilege, self-incrimination, telecommunications by sally

“Judgement has been reserved over a private investigator’s appeal against two court orders that may force him to reveal who ordered him to hack phones.”

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BBC News, 29th November 2011

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

FSA told to rethink on legal privilege – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 20th, 2011 in financial regulation, judicial review, news, privilege by tracey

“The Financial Services Authority has been urged to review its operating procedures after it was found to have acted unlawfully in its use of legally privileged material during an enforcement investigation.”

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Law Society’s Gazette, 20th October 2011

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Reynolds defence is just the start – The Guardian

Posted October 17th, 2011 in defamation, freedom of expression, media, news, privilege, public interest by sally

“In Flood v the Times, the supreme court has to consider questions of balance and the limits of editorial discretion.”

Full story

The Guardian, 17th October 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Anemometers, environmental information, and legal advice: the Planning Inspectorate’s duty to disclose? – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted August 25th, 2011 in disclosure, freedom of information, local government, news, privilege by sally

“This interesting decision of the First-Tier Tribunal (not linked to this post, for reasons I shall explain below) goes to the circumstances in which a public authority can refuse under environmental information rules to disclose legal advice received by it.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 25th August 2011

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

How far can legal professional privilege go? – The Guardian

Posted July 22nd, 2011 in law firms, news, privilege by sally

“Legal professional privilege meant Harbottle & Lewis had to secure a waiver to discuss Murdoch’s claim about phone hacking claims.”

Full story

The Guardian, 22nd July 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Gray v News Group Newspapers Ltd and another; Coogan v Same – WLR Daily

Gray v News Group Newspapers Ltd and another; Coogan v Same [2011] EWHC 349 (Ch); [2011] WLR (D) 65

“The words ‘technical or commercial information’ in the definition of ‘intellectual property’ in section 72(5) of the Senior Courts Act 1981, section 72 (1) of which provided for the withdrawal of privilege against self or spousal incrimination in proceedings for, inter alia, infringement of rights pertaining to any intellectual property, meant technical or commercial information which could be protected by action.”

WLR Daily, 28th February 2011

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note that once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

CMCS Common Market Commercial Services AVV v Taylor; Taylor v Stoutt and others – WLR Daily

Posted February 25th, 2011 in costs, disclosure, law reports, privilege, solicitors by sally

CMCS Common Market Commercial Services AVV v Taylor; Taylor v Stoutt and others [2011] EWHC 324 (Ch); [2011] WLR (D) 57

“There was no difference in principle between the ambit of a solicitor’s duty to the court in relation to the conduct and supervision of disclosure of documents and the conduct and supervision of any redaction of disclosable doccuments prior to inspection.”

WLR Daily, 24th February 2011

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note that once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Clift v Slough Borough Council – WLR Daily

Posted January 4th, 2011 in defamation, law reports, privacy, privilege by sally

Clift v Slough Borough Council [2010] EWCA Civ 1171; [2010] WLR (D) 343

“Where a public authority had widely disclosed information about a person who had been in contact with its staff, both stating that she had been placed on its violent persons register and enclosing the entry itself, it was relevant, when looking to the applicability of qualified privilege, to have regard to the art 8 Convention rights of the person so identified and also to look to the proportionality of the disclosure itself.”

WLR Daily, 22nd December 2010

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.