Privilege and Police Communications
| Published date | 01 January 1961 |
| Date | 01 January 1961 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002201836102500111 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Privilege and
Police Communications
BY
PROFESSOR
J.
A.
COUTTS,
Dean
of
the Faculty
of
Law, University
of
Bristol
TWO recent cases, one in Eire, A.G. v. Simpson (1959, I.R.
105), and one in England, Austen v. Rayner (1960, 1
All
E.R. 692; 2 W.L.R. 562) show
that
in certain points of detail
the
practice of
the
two countries in
the
matter of privilege to
be attached to police communications is not entirely
the
same.
In
Duncan v. Cammell, Laird
{5
Co. (1942 A.C., at p. 636),
Viscount Simon L.C. stated
that
"the
principle to be applied
in every case is
that
documents otherwise relevant and liable
to production
must
not be produced if
the
public interest
requires
that
they should be withheld.
This
test may be
found to be satisfied either (a) by having regard to
the
contents
of
the
particular document, or (b)by
the
fact
that
the
document
belongs to a class which, on grounds of public interest,
must
as a class be withheld from production."
The
reports of
police officers in Austen v. Rayner were brought within class
(a), for they were there withheld from production on
the
strength of an affidavit from
the
Horne Secretary
that
he had
read them and
that
he claimed privilege, while certain memor-
anda and notes of interviews and entries in official diaries were
withheld on
the
ground
that
the
Attorney-General was
not
required to swear an affidavit, by reason of
the
fact
that
he
appeared in person, to claim Crown privilege (see per Glyn-
Jones J., 1960, I
All
E.R., at p. 696E).
In
A.G. v. Simpson,
however,
the
police communications were there held to corne
within Viscount Simon's category
(b),
as 'class'
documents-
although
the
Court was eventually divided
upon
the question
of how this affected
the
requirement of
the
making of a claim
for privilege.
In
Simpson's case
(supra),
the
defendant was charged
with showing for gain an indecent and profane performance
71
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