The judge at trial had refused to set aside a subpoena to produce documents which had been served on behalf of the accused in a criminal trial.
Held: Caulfield J said: ‘I think the correct principle is this, and I think it must be restricted to these particular facts in a criminal trial, and the principle I am going to enunciate is not supported by any authority that has been cited to me, and I am just working on what I conceive to be the rules of natural justice. If there are documents in the possession or control of a solicitor which, on production, help to further the defence of an accused man, then in my judgment no privilege attaches. I cannot conceive that our law would permit a solicitor or other person to screen from a jury information which, if disclosed to the jury, would perhaps enable a man either to establish his innocence or to resist an allegation made by the Crown.’
Judges:
Caulfield J
Citations:
[1973] 1 WLR 115, [1972] 2 All ER 1192
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Overruled – Regina v Ataou CACD 1988
Legal professional privilege is an interest which falls to be balanced against competing public interests: ‘When a communication was originally privileged and in criminal proceedings privilege is claimed against the defendant by the client concerned . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice, Legal Professions
Updated: 04 May 2022; Ref: scu.580911