Review: Legal Professional Privilege: Law & Theory
| Date | 01 July 2001 |
| Published date | 01 July 2001 |
| DOI | 10.1177/136571270100500306 |
| Author | Colin Passmore |
| Subject Matter | Review |
REVIEWS
Jonathan Auburn
LEGAL
PROFESSIONAL
PRIVILEGE:
LAW
&
THEORY
Oxford: Hart Publishing
(2000)
xxxviii
+
269
pp,
hb,
€30
The law of privilege is a very important part of our law of evidence.
So
entrenched is
the right
of
a man to consult his lawyer
in
confidence that, as the late Lord Taylor
CJ
rightly observed in the leading English case ofR vDerby Magistrates,
exp.
B
[1996]
AC
487.
HL,
privilege is no ordinary rule of evidence: rather, it is a findamental condition
on which the administration ofjustice
as
a whole rests. Perhaps it is some testament
to the importance of privilege that its application continues to provide practitioners
with a level of difficulty which all too frequently requires resort to the courts for
resolution. Indeed,
I
would estimate that there have been well over
50
decisions in
this
important area in the last three or four years alone. It is surprising, then, that
so
few textbooks have been dedicated to
this
subject. For that reason alone, Dr Auburn’s
new book is a very welcome addition to this small collection. But if that sounds like
damning with faint praise, let me at once make clear that this is an excellent book
which will be welcomed by practitioners and academics alike.
As
Dr Auburn acknowledges in his preface, his book ‘is not intended to be a
comprehensive treatment of all the rules of legal professional privilege. Rather, it is
an attempt to present some new ideas and new ways of looking at the privilege. The
aim is more to generate questions rather than to provide answers’ (p. vii). Certainly,
it is as well to be clear about the book’s less than comprehensive coverage. It does not
examine, for example, litigation privilege or some of the more detailed rules of
practice. Even
so,
the author’s prefatory statement of intent might be considered
modest when set against his considerable achievement. Quite apart from the fact
that the book ‘offers a timely examination of the fundamentals
of
this important
area of civil law’ (Lord Woolf, in his Foreword,
p.
v). in a number of areas this book
offers detailed and compelling insights into practical issues which continue to
challenge practising lawyers (and judges).
Speaking as a practitioner, the most valuable aspects of the book include:
THE
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
OF
EVIDENCE
&
PROOF
209
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