Privilege, 3rd Edition

The scope of the two main heads of privilege have only recently been settled by the Courts, notwithstanding that privilege can be traced back many hundreds of years.

With the Three Rivers case, the position is now clearer as the author describes in the new edition of this, the leading work on the subject, which examines privilege in all its aspects in terms which will appeal to the practitioner and academic alike.

If ever there were circumstances in which the English courts might have been taken the opportunity to rein in the importance or scope of legal professional privilege, then this was provided by both Derby Magistrates and Three Rivers No (6).

That on both occasions, and in the intervening opportunities provided by the appeals in Daly and Morgan Grenfell, the House of Lords has consistently affirmed the policy justification for legal advice privilege removes any doubt as to its high and now unchallengeable - importance in English law as a substantive right that prevails, save in the face of the clearest statutory abrogation, over all other public interests.

Key features of the new edition:

• Full coverage of extensive new case law
• Now cited by many courts
• Enhanced coverage of international cases

Key contents:

• Advice privilege
• Litigation privilege
• Sharing privilege
• Pre-existing documents
• Joint and common interests
• Losing privilege
• The Crime Fraud Exception
• Agents
• Third parties
• Claiming privilege
• Waiver

The author's explanation of the subject is both detailed and analytical, providing the reader with a definitive, comprehensive and expertly written account.

Key Benefits:

• Establishes the core principles of legal professional privilege, including its rationale and the nature of the right
• Examines all aspects of the law of privilege including what constitutes privilege, situations where privilege occurs, the boundaries of privilege and practical examples of what is and is not covered by privilege
• Takes a practical approach, guiding through the core principles and areas of complexity
• Sets out how to claim to privilege
• Looks at the many and complex circumstances in which loss of privilege can occur
• Takes into account the without prejudice privilege and how it differs from legal professional privilege
• Looks at advice privilege in relation to client-lawyer relationship, confidential communications and third party communications
• Discusses litigation privilege in relation to legal proceedings, expert witnesses, witness statements, and criminal proceedings
• Addresses the general principles underlying the ‘crime-fraud exception’’, how it applies in both civil and criminal proceedings and the grounds on which it can be invoked
• Deals with the consequences where the subject matter of a privileged communication is one in which two or more persons can establish a joint or common interest
• Analyses the many key judgments which have established the principles of privilege
•  Provides a comparative law analyses
• Offers full coverage of extensive new case law Includes enhanced coverage of international cases