Dean writes to Advocate General over lawyer surveillance

The Dean of the Faculty of Advocates has written to the UK Government's law officer for Scotland over the revelations that security agencies have been intercepting legally privileged communications.

James Wolffe QC has acted in response to the disclosure that MI5, MI6 and GCHQ regard it as legitimate to make use of lawyer-client communications that are regarded as confidential under the long established common law rule of legal professional privilege. (Click here for report.) 

Mr Wolffe stated: “The media have reported that the security services have policies about the surveillance of lawyer-client communications. These reports raise questions of legitimate concern not only to the legal profession but for all citizens.

“The confidentiality of communications between lawyers and clients is a fundamental safeguard of the rule of law. As Sir David Edward [former President of the European Court of Justice] has put it: ‘The rights, duties and privileges given to lawyers are… an essential element in the protection of individual liberty in a free society. They exist for the public interest; they have not been created by lawyers for their own benefit.’

“I recognise the importance of the work of the security services, and I do not doubt the integrity of the staff of those services. I also recognise the acute sensitivity of the issues which arise. However, these media reports raise questions which require answers about the circumstances in which the security services regard it as legitimate to gain access to lawyer-client communications and about the safeguards which are in place."

Mr Wolffe added that he had drawn attention to the statement issued by the Council of European Bars and Law Societies (CCBE) in October last year on mass electronic surveillance by government bodies.