Legal Professional Privilege in the UK and Prudential: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
November 10, 2010 in Tax Planning International Review and Forum
Sean Jeffrey and Maryanna Sharrock, Stephenson Harwood, London
This article looks at the issue of legal professional privilege in the UK as it affects tax lawyers and accountants following the recent decision of the UK Court of Appeal in the Prudential Case.
This old saying could summarise the recent decision of the UK Court of Appeal in R (on the application of Prudential plc and another) v Special Commissioner of Tax and another, October 13, 2010 (“Prudential”). The Court confirmed the traditional view of legal professional privilege absent litigation (referred to in this article simply as “Privilege”) as a protection for confidential communications between clients and their lawyers (and only their lawyers) for the purpose of obtaining or giving legal advice or assistance.
In the background is a long-standing conflict of interests between accountants, lawyers and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The accounting profession argues that, if a client can obtain identical advice on tax law from an accountant or from a lawyer, the accountant’s advice should be subject to Privilege just as much as if it had been given by the lawyer. In other words, the test for generating Privilege should look at the nature of the advice given, not the identity of the person giving it…. (Read more on free trial below)
The full version of this article is in the BNA International Tax Centre.
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