Law societies accept weak amendments to legal professional privilege in Snoopers’ Charter

While barrister chiefs attacked the bill at its final reading this week in the House of Lords, the law societies on both sides of the border lent it their support, despite admitting its amendments to protect LPP were not enough.

The amendments safeguard LPP material accidentally caught in a search and require that it be subject to a test of “public interest” — altering clause 56 of the bill.​

Michael Clancy, director of law reform at the Law Society of Scotland, told Scottish Legal News that the bill had been “improved”.

He added: “ UK government brought forward a number of measures which have addressed some of our concerns.

“However we believe that the bill still has imperfections and that proper post-legislative scrutiny should be carried out within the next three years to find out if it is functioning properly and assess on how many occasions a lawyer’s obligation of confidentiality to their client has been compromised by the surveillance methods permitted; how the system of Judicial Commissioners granting or approving warrants is working; and what improvements can be made to this law.”

Robert Bourns, president of the Law Society of England and Wales, said: “While these protections are not as comprehensive as the legal community felt was appropriate, the government’s response is still a significant improvement from where the bill started.”

But Bar Council of England and Wales chairman, Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC, said the amendments were not enough: “There is still too much scope for a client’s privileged communications deliberately to be targeted and intercepted, and we remain concerned that this fundamental constitutional right has now been diminished.”