The long-awaited decision of the Court of Appeal in Three Rivers District Council v Bank of England (No 10) [2004] was handed down on 1 March. Once again, the Court of Appeal has used this case to send a clear message to the legal community that legal advice privilege must be kept within narrow confines. The role of solicitors has expanded greatly since many of the authorities cited in this decision, but the courts are restricting the circumstances in which legal advice privilege can be claimed.
Following the decision of the Court of Appeal in the earlier Three Rivers District Council v Governor and Company of the Bank of England (No 5) [2003] case, which has been widely reported and commented on, the liquidators of BCCI sought further disclosure, namely copies of communications between Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and its client the Bingham Inquiry Unit (BIU).
