Day 255 - 23 May 96 - Page 57
1 However, what I anticipated he was going to go on to say
2 is, in so far as there were investigations and observations
3 by inquiry agents whom he does not propose to call, and in
4 respect of which he has not disclosed documents or
5 photographs, he has not waived that privilege. So whether
6 the information might be relevant or not is neither here
7 nor there. You cannot get through the immunity conveyed by
8 legal professional privilege.
9
10 That much I had anticipated Mr. Rampton would argue. So he
11 says all information going to Barlows about what, for
12 instance, Miss Tiller investigated or observed, went there
13 for the purposes of obtaining advice in proceedings which
14 were contemplated or, for all I know, had already been
15 instigated. It was, therefore, privileged. It has not
16 been waived because the Plaintiffs do not propose to call
17 Miss Tiller and they have not put in any documents about
18 it, or a photograph about it, and so it is still covered by
19 a privilege which has not been waived.
20
21 So far I had anticipated Mr. Rampton's argument with the
22 help of what he said, I think, on the afternoon of
23 21st May.
24
25 What this afternoon's discussion has raised is the
26 possibility that even communications between a client and a
27 third party which did not go to the solicitors, information
28 about inquiry agents' investigations and observations which
29 did not go to the solicitors, and maybe it was never
30 intended should go to the solicitors, would be covered by
31 the same privilege. But that may not matter, because what
32 Mr. Rampton has indicated -- subject to a final check -- is
33 that he thinks that all the information about inquiry
34 agents' investigations and observations by Miss Tiller, for
35 instance, Miss Hooker and the third unidentified inquiry
36 agent, are covered by legal professional privilege - the
37 legal professional privilege which, he argues, bites on
38 communications between third parties or the clients and the
39 solicitors for the purpose of obtaining legal advice.
40
41 I am not seeking to argue it now, but I am trying to
42 explain what I understand the argument will be.
43
44 MR. MORRIS: Right. Can I say that my glimpse of the White Book
45 said that all documents sent to solicitors are not
46 automatically covered by privilege. Obviously, if
47 documents are sent to the solicitors, for example, Heathrow
48 employment records, are sent to the solicitors, the only
49 reason they are sent to the solicitors is that because they
50 are relevant to an issue in the case, then they are
51 disclosable.
52
53 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What you have to ask is whether the dominant
54 purpose is for the purpose of obtaining advice.
55
56 MR. MORRIS: Or for obtaining evidence if it is for -----
57
58 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, not necessarily, because you can send
59 documents to the solicitors. The main purpose in sending
60 it to the solicitors is so that they can be evidence in the
