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Total entries in this category: Published On: Aug 03, 2007 10:44 AM |
Legal professional privilegeFollowing on from the
HIH
Royal Commission and the
AWB
inquiry, the ALRC has published a position paper on Client Legal Privilege and
Federal Investigatory Bodies.
According to the Press
Release:
Prof Weisbrot said the issue of client legal privilege is a sensitive one. “Clients must be able to be completely candid with their lawyers in order to get proper legal advice—so there’s a strong public interest argument in favour of maintaining client legal privilege. “On the other hand, there is evidence that claims of privilege are sometimes abused, as a tactic to stymie investigations and prolong litigation,” he said. Commissioner-in-charge of the Inquiry, Prof Rosalind Croucher, said the ALRC has identified about 40 federal investigatory bodies with coercive information gathering powers. “One of the problems is that there’s a whole raft of federal investigatory bodies—each with its own legislation. Sometimes this legislation modifies or abrogates privilege, sometimes it expressly preserves it, and often it is silent on the issue—which makes this area complex and confusing. Then add to that the interaction between this legislation and the common law. “We are also exploring whether the rules might be different for Royal Commissions as opposed to investigatory bodies—and we note that NSW and Victoria have abolished privilege in the case of their state Royal Commissions,” she said. The Issues Paper poses some 31 questions. Submissions are sought by 4 June 2007. Press Release here and Issues Paper here. Posted: Tuesday - April 24, 2007 at 04:56 PM | |