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England and Wales High Court (Commercial Court) Decisions |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales High Court (Commercial Court) Decisions >> JSC BTA Bank v Ablyazov & Ors [2012] EWHC 1252 (Comm) (15 May 2012) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Comm/2012/1252.html Cite as: [2012] EWHC 1252 (Comm) |
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QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
COMMERCIAL COURT
Rolls Building, 7 Rolls Buildings Fetter lane, London EC4A 1NL |
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B e f o r e :
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JSC BTA BANK |
Claimant |
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- and - |
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MUKHTAR ABLYAZOV and others -and- ADDLESHAW GODDARD LLP |
Defendants Respondent |
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Timothy Dutton QC (instructed by Addleshaw Goddard LLP) for the Respondent
Hearing dates: 4 May 2012
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Crown Copyright ©
Mr. Justice Teare :
(i) [AG] shall as soon as reasonably practicable and in any event on [the day after the Order is granted] provide to the Claimant's solicitors and the Tipstaff orally and thereafter in writing all historic and current contact details (including, without limitation, postal and email addresses and all telephone numbers and Skype account details, the Contact Details) which they hold for the First Defendant and which were not notified to the Claimant and Tipstaff pursuant to the Order of Mr. Justice Teare dated 16 February 2012.
(ii) [AG] shall, until further order of the Court, as soon as reasonably practicable and in any event within two hours of being made aware of the same, provide to the Claimant's solicitors all further Contact Details which they hold for the First Defendant which have not been notified to the Claimant and Tipstaff pursuant to the Order of Mr. Justice Teare dated 16 February 2012 or the order contained in paragraph (i) above.
Jurisdiction
"Whether it is said that it must be just and convenient in the interests of justice to grant relief, or that relief should only be granted if it is necessary in the interests of justice to grant it, makes little or no difference of substance."
i) The first derives from the right to confidential and privileged advice being absolute, by which is meant that it is subject to no exceptions and cannot be overridden by any other public interest; see R v Derby Magistrates Court (ex parte B) [1996] AC 487 at pp.506-9 per Lord Taylor and Three Rivers (No.6) [2005] 1 AC 610 at paragraph 25 per Lord Scott. The only "exception" (if that is the right word, which would appear doubtful) is that communications in the pursuit of crime or fraud are not protected by the right to confidential and privileged legal advice; see see McE v Prison Service of Northern Island [2009] 1 AC 908 at paragraph 11 per Lord Phillips. That exception is not relied upon on the instant application. Only Parliament may override the right and it has not done so; see B v Auckland District Law Society [2003] 2 AC 736 at paragraphs 46-56 per Lord Millett. Since the right is absolute the court cannot have jurisdiction to make any order which impinges on or interferes with the right. In the present case it is said that the contact details held by AG are protected by legal professional privilege and accordingly the court has no jurisdiction to make any order which requires such details to be disclosed.
ii) The second strand to the argument concentrates upon a person's right of access to a lawyer for confidential and privileged legal advice. That is "the necessary anterior right for without it the right to privileged advice is illusory". If the effect of the proposed order is to prevent the First Defendant having access to AG then the court can have no jurisdiction to make it because the order would destroy the First Defendant's right to legal advice.
Just and convenient/discretion
"If, indeed, the gentleman's residence had been concealed; if he was in hiding for some reason or other, and the solicitor had said, "I only know my client's residence because he has communicated it to me confidentially, as his solicitor, for the purpose of being advised by me, and he has not communicated it to the rest of the world", then the client's residence would have been a matter of professional confidence; but the mere statement by the solicitor, that he knows the residence only in consequence of his professional employment, is not sufficient."
"It is in my judgment important to remind oneself of the well-established purpose of legal professional privilege, which is to enable a client to make full disclosure to his legal adviser for the purposes of seeking legal advice without apprehension that anything said by him in seeking advice or to him in giving it may thereafter be subject to disclosure against his will….In this case we must consider the function and nature of the documents with which we are concerned. The record of time on an attendance note, on a time sheet or fee record is not in my judgment in any sense a communication. It records nothing which passes between the solicitor and the client and it has nothing to do with obtaining legal advice. It is the same sort of record as might arise if a call were made on a dentist or bank manager. A record of appointment made does involve a communication between the client and the solicitors' office but is not in my judgment, without more, to be regarded as made in connection with legal advice. So to hold would extend the scope of legal privilege far beyond its proper sphere, in my view ………….Production is sought of nothing relating to legal advice or the subject matter of legal advice. Any such reference in for example an attendance note can be covered up, blacked out or obliterated."
"19…………As Lord Bingham stated during the course of his judgment, it is necessary to consider the function and nature of the documents. As a result although documents may be located at a solicitor's office, they do not attract legal professional privilege for that reason alone.
20. That decision provides strong support for the proposition that the provision of an individual's name, address and contact number cannot, without more, be regarded as being made in connection with legal advice. It records nothing which passes between the solicitor and client in relation to the obtaining of or giving of legal advice. Taking down the name and telephone number is a formality that occurs before the legal advice is sought or given. As my Lord observed during argument, providing these details does no more than create the channel through which advice may later flow: see in this regard the case of Studdy v Sanders and others [1823] 2 D and R 347."
"It is suggested that confidentiality is the touchstone and that privilege applies to facts known to a lawyer for the purposes of giving legal assistance or advice……..."
i) The First Defendant has shown a remarkable determination to defend the claims brought against him and he will find alternative methods of communicating with his solicitors.
ii) The order sought will not deprive him of access to AG. Rather, it will be his own decision not to access AG rather than to surrender himself to the Tipstaff and comply with the court's orders or continue to use the established lines of communication.
iii) The court should not be slow to make an order which increases the likelihood of the First Defendant coming out of hiding or returning to the jurisdiction.
"……I can think of few things more likely to inhibit the exercise by a client of his fundamental legal right to seek legal advice than an order requiring his solicitor to disclose to an adverse party contact details which were supplied to the solicitor in strict confidence and for the sole purpose of enabling the client to communicate with the solicitor."
"It is in the highest degree unsatisfactory that [Mr. Shalabayev] can still be at large, as a fugitive from justice, while he has solicitors on the record acting for him, and intervening in legal proceedings as and when it suits his purposes. Such a procedure is liable to bring the administration of justice into disrepute, and to give the impression that British justice is an a la carte menu from which he can order at choice without ever having to pay the bill."
Conclusion