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In England and Wales, the principle of legal professional privilege has long been recognised by the common law. It is seen as a fundamental principle of justice, and grants a protection from disclosing evidence. It is a right that attaches to the client (not to the lawyer) and so may only be waived by the client. The majority of English civil cases are subject to the rules of ''standard disclosure'', which are set out by the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (the ''CPR'') Rule 31.6.〔CPR 31.6: "Standard disclosure requires a party to disclose only: (a) the documents upon which he relies; and (b) the documents which (i) adversely affect his own case; (ii) adversely affect another party's case; or (iii) support another party's case; and (c) the documents which he is required to disclose by a relevant practice direction."〕 A party makes disclosure of a document by stating that the document exists or has existed.〔CPR 31.3〕 The right to inspect documents in English civil procedure is governed by CPR Part 31.15. Upon written notice, the party to whom a document has been disclosed has the right to inspect that document (if such inspection would be proportionate given the nature of the case) except where the party making disclosure has the right to withhold inspection. The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (PoCA) requires solicitors (and accountants, insolvency practitioners, etc.) who suspect their clients of money laundering (a term covering a wide range of acquisitive criminal offences) to report them to the authorities without telling the clients they have done so, subject to a maximum punishment of 14 years in jail. However, the Court of Appeal confirmed in 2005 that PoCA does not override legal professional privilege.〔''Bowman v Fels'' () 〕 ==The general nature of legal professional privilege== Legal professional privilege is the principal reason why inspection of documents is refused, and is regarded as a fundamental principle of justice. It is an exception to the general ''cards on the table'' outlook of the CPR. Privilege discloses a substantive right to keep privileged material confidential not only in the context of litigation, but generally.〔''R (on the application of Morgan Grenfell & Co.) v Special Comr of Income Tax'' () 1 AC 563〕 Privilege extends beyond a mere evidential rule, and has been regarded as a fundamental principle of justice: It is a fundamental human right recognised by the English common law, and by the European Court of Human Rights, which has held it to be part of the right to privacy guaranteed by Article 8 of the Convention〔''Campbell v United Kingdom'' () 15 EHRR 137, which stated at pg 160, para. 46: "It is clearly in the general interest that any person who wishes to consult a lawyer should be free to do so under conditions which favour full and uninhibited discussion. It is for this reason that the lawyer-client relationship is, in principle, privileged." The Court decided that the routine opening of correspondence flowing between a secure category prisoner and his solicitor by the prison authorities violated the prisoner's Article 8 rights.〕 Privilege is absolute, in the sense that once it is established, it may not be weighed against any other countervailing public interest factor,〔''R v Derby Magistrates' Court, ex p B'' () AC 487. Lord Nicholls (at p. 512) rejected the submission that a court should carry out a balancing exercise: "In the absence of principled answers to these questions (how in practice to balance out differing demands regarding the right to justice and the right to non-incrimination, for instance ), and I can see none, there is no escaping the conclusion that the prospect of a judicial balancing exercise in this field is illusory, a veritable will-o'-the-wisp. That in itself is a sufficient reason for not departing from the established law."〕 but may only be overridden expressly by statute. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Legal professional privilege in England and Wales」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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