Law Society calls for statutory protection for legal professional privilege
The right to communicate with your lawyer without fear of your computer being bugged or your messages intercepted by the security and intelligence services is basic to the functioning of the justice system and the rule of law.
Responding to the government's consultation on new property interference and interception of communications codes of practice, Law Society president Andrew Caplen said: "The potential for surveillance of lawyer-client communications can have an extraordinarily chilling effect. Suspecting that you cannot speak to your lawyer candidly or advise your client confidentially is corrosive of the entire legal process.
"The Law Society has long called for review and reform of the legislative framework for surveillance in the UK and for statutory guarantees recognising the importance of client-lawyer confidentiality. Now even the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee has called for reform and we agree. Legal professional privilege is a fundamental common law right that underpins basic human rights including the right to a fair trial. The next government should move quickly to protect it.”
