Common Interest Privilege in UK Law

Leading Cases
  • Kearns v General Council of the Bar
    • Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
    • 17 Marzo 2003

    To my mind an altogether more helpful categorisation is to be found by distinguishing between on the one hand cases where the communicator and the communicatee are in an existing and established relationship (irrespective of whether within that relationship the communications between them relate to reciprocal interests or reciprocal duties or a mixture of both) and on the other hand cases where no such relationship has been established and the communication is between strangers (or at any rate is volunteered otherwise than by reference to their relationship).

  • Loutchansky v Times Newspapers Ltd (No. 2)
    • Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
    • 05 Diciembre 2001

    The interest is that of the public in a modern democracy in free expression and, more particularly, in the promotion of a free and vigorous press to keep the public informed. The corresponding duty on the journalist (and equally his editor) is to play his proper role in discharging that function. Unless the publisher is acting responsibly privilege cannot arise.

  • Reynolds v Times Newspapers Ltd
    • House of Lords
    • 28 Octubre 1999

    These factors are to be taken into account in determining whether the duty-interest test is satisfied or, as I would prefer to say in a simpler and more direct way, whether the public was entitled to know the particular information. The duty-interest test, or the right to know test, cannot be carried out in isolation from these factors and without regard to them. A claim to privilege stands or falls according to whether the claim passes or fails this test.

    7. Whether comment was sought from the plaintiff. He may have information others do not possess or have not disclosed. An approach to the plaintiff will not always be necessary.

  • Robson v Robson
    • Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
    • 21 Diciembre 2010

    To support the defence the defendant must first establish that it is under a duty to communicate the information to those who have a corresponding interest or duty to receive it. The issue is whether or not the Council are under such a duty. It follows that the duty to Ms Clift not to publish trumps the duty to the supernumerary employees to distribute the entry on the Violent Persons Register. In those circumstances the Council cannot maintain its defence of qualified privilege.

  • Kearns v General Council of the Bar
    • Queen's Bench Division
    • 26 Julio 2002

    In those cases, one does not need to assess the interest of society afresh in each case. In this area the law was thought to be settled, on the basis that the balance would fairly be struck if liability in such situations was confined to those cases where the occasion of communication was abused—in the sense that malice could be established. Nothing short of malice would undermine the law's protection.

  • Seaga v Harper
    • Privy Council
    • 30 Enero 2008

    Their Lordships consider that this was a misconceived argument. They are satisfied that the publication was not covered by traditional qualified privilege, for the element of reciprocity of duty and interest was lacking when the appellant knowingly made it to the public at large via the attendant media. If privilege was to be successfully claimed, it could only be under the Reynolds principles and, as they have said, those principles applied to the case.

See all results
Legislation
  • Defamation Act 2013
    • UK Non-devolved
    • 1 de Enero de 2013
    ... ... (4) The common law defence of justification is abolished and, ... 4 (publication on matter of public interest) ;(b) a defence under section 6 (peer-reviewed ... court proceedings protected by absolute privilege) ;(d) a defence under section 15 of that Act ... ...
  • Investigatory Powers Act 2016
    • UK Non-devolved
    • 1 de Enero de 2016
    ... ... (computer misuse offences) ,(v) in the common law offence of misconduct in public office, ... of that information,(c) the public interest in the integrity and security of ... include—(a) items subject to legal privilege,(b) any information identifying or confirming a ... ...
  • Modern Slavery Act 2015
    • UK Non-devolved
    • 1 de Enero de 2015
    ... ... (6) Where a person who claims to have an interest in a land vehicle, ship or aircraft applies to a ... ,(h) the Greater London Authority,(i) the Common Council of the City of London,(j) the Council of ... Schedule—“items subject to legal privilege” has the same meaning as in the Police and ... ...
  • Immigration Act 2016
    • UK Non-devolved
    • 1 de Enero de 2016
    ... ... for possession, order that the tenant's interest under the tenancy is to be transferred so that it ... believing is an item subject to legal privilege.(9) An immigration officer may retain a document ... council.The Greater London Authority.The Common Council of the City of London.The Council of the ... ...
See all results
Books & Journal Articles
  • Combating money laundering and the future of banking secrecy laws in Malaysia
    • No. 17-2, May 2014
    • Journal of Money Laundering Control
    • 219-229
    Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to analyze banking secrecy laws against the background of the Malaysian anti-money laundering laws. It has been argued that the anti-money laundering law mak...
    ... ... banking secrecy rule when compared to the common" law or other statutes.Banks can disclose customer\xE2" ... Bankingsecrecy is a customer privilege, whereas combating money laundering is critical ... a manner that is not prejudicial tothe interest of legitimate customers. This is a positive ... ...
  • ‘The Stuff of Which Political Debate is Made’: Roberts V Bass1
    • No. 31-1, March 2003
    • Federal Law Review
    ... ... the impact of the Lange decision on the common law defence of qualified privilege. In Ro ... moral duty or to protect the publisher's interest, and if the material was published to recipients ... ...
  • Noticeboard
    • No. 12-3, July 2008
    • International Journal of Evidence & Proof, The
    ... ... , although not exhaustive, only permits common law rules of evidence to be applied that are ... decision to prosecute; • if the public interest in the integrity of the legal process outweighs ... Bastarache J) Joint attorney–client privilege and corporate families—United States The facts ... ...
  • Noticeboard
    • No. 8-4, December 2004
    • International Journal of Evidence & Proof, The
    ... ... Court of Appeal is the first court in the common law world to have had occasion to consider the ... was not protected by legal professional privilege. Subsequently the same lip-reader appeared as a ... Public interest immunity—inadvertent disclosure—United ... ...
See all results
Law Firm Commentaries
  • Privilege - Accident Exchange V McLean
    • Mondaq UK
    ... ... exception" to a claim for privilege and whether one party can waive common interest privilege ... Prior caselaw has established that, where the ... ...
  • EMW Law LLP v Halborg [2017] EWHC 1014 (ch)
    • Mondaq UK
    ... ... issues relating to without prejudice privilege ... A solicitor delegated work to another ... the agent-solicitors could not rely on common interest privilege to insist on seeing without ... ...
  • (Re)insurance Weekly Update 2- 2018
    • Mondaq UK
    ... ... the "iniquity exception" to a claim for privilege and whether one party can waive common interest ... ...
  • (Re)Insurance Weekly Update 16 -2017
    • Mondaq UK
    ... ... issues relating to without prejudice privilege ... the agent-solicitors could not rely on common interest privilege to insist on seeing without ... ...
See all results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT