R (KBR Inc) V SFO: A Victory For Common Sense

In October 2020 the Supreme Court heard the appeal in R (KBR Inc) v Director of the Serious Fraud Office (see previous summary article [insert link]). The appeal focussed on whether the SFO could issue a notice under section 2(3) of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 ("the CJA 1987") to a foreign company requiring it to produce documents held abroad ("the s2 Notice"). The Supreme Court has now ruled that a SFO s2 Notice does not have extraterritorial effect in what many practitioners and commentators will welcome as a victory for common sense and respect for the comity of nations. That is an entirely unsurprising result given the well-established position generally limiting to the UK the application of legislation emanating from the UK Parliament.