Micosta SA v Shetland Islands Council, 1983 SLT 483
Citation: Micosta SA v Shetland Islands Council, 1983 SLT 483
Rule of thumb: Where a lawyer is accused of fraud, can they claim privilege for the file? No, privilege does not extend to cover a lawyer who is accused of fraud – the Police are entitled to obtain a warrant to get the file.
Judgment:
Where a lawyer is accused themselves of committing fraud as part of a transaction then confidentiality does not apply, ‘So far as we can discover from the authorities the only circumstances in which the general rule (of solicitor client confidentiality) will be superseded are where fraud or some other illegal act is alleged against a party and where his law agent has been directly concerned in the carrying out of the very transaction which is the subject matter of inquiry’, Lord President Elmslie
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.