By Richard Hall

Landmark decision on Legal Privilege

The Court of Appeal has overturned a previous judgment allowing the Serious Fraud Office access to documents shared between the Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) and its former legal adviser Dechert in relation to ENRC’s findings during a criminal investigation into alleged bribery and financial malpractices.

The earlier High Court Judgment sought to narrow the scope of legal professional privilege by ruling that the documents – including evidence obtained by ENRC’s legal advisers from employees regarding the events surrounding the allegations made – were not protected as they were likely to be of significant public interest.