Summary
On September 5, 2018, the English Court of Appeal (the
Court) issued its decision in The Director of
the Serious Fraud Office v Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation
Limited [2018] EWCA Civ 2006. The much anticipated decision
arose from the High Court's decision in May 2017 (see our
previous
client alert) that several commentators feared had limited the
scope of legal professional privilege under English law. On appeal,
the Court disagreed with the High Court on issues of both fact and
law and reversed several of the High Court's key rulings:
bringing the position back, and potentially indicating a broader
scope for the future.
It was decided that litigation privilege was engaged as the
facts of the case showed that there was reasonable contemplation of
legal proceedings by relevant parties. Furthermore, the Court
disagreed with the current position on legal advice privilege under
English law that extends privilege only to communications between
counsel
