Limits On Legal Professional Privilege

The High Court has recently restricted the ability to rely on privilege.  Although SFO -v- ENRC is an English authority, Jersey generally follows English principles of privilege.

In 2011 ENRC, a mining company, began an internal investigation (prompted by a whistle blower) into potential corruption in its operations in Kazakhstan and Africa.  ENRC was subsequently contacted by the SFO and encouraged to co-operate and self-report.

The talks broke down in 2013 and the SFO launched a formal criminal investigation shortly after. The SFO applied for disclosure of ENRC documents from 2011 to 2013.  ENRC objected on grounds of litigation and legal advice privilege.  The documents largely comprised notes or summaries prepared by ENRC's lawyers of interviews with employees and third parties, as part of the investigation into possible corruption.