In a much-anticipated judgment, the Court of Appeal in The Director of the Serious Fraud Office (‘SFO’) v Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Ltd (‘ENRC’) [2018] EWCA Civ 2006 has helpfully clarified the scope of litigation privilege and (reluctantly) also upheld the current definition of ‘client’ for the purposes of legal advice privilege.
The Court of Appeal’s judgment raises some important issues that individuals and companies, faced with the prospect of criminal or regulatory investigations/proceedings, should bear in mind before commencing internal investigations in order to ensure that litigation privilege can legitimately be claimed over any documentation or material that is created.