Posted By Stuart Shirreff Hello John, I may be wrong but I think they are entitled to everything appertaining to the incident. Including accident investigations review of RA and machinery maintenance records if applicable and the like. Rgds Stuart

Posted By Robert K Lewis Ultimately unless the information was prepared in contemplation of legal proceedings the whole of the documentation including any assessment of management failings would become disclosable. Until that time the duty is to provide the facts of the accident, subject only to the preservation of any information concerning other persons as may be covered by Data Protection requirements. Legal privilege has been often discussed on this forum with many uneasy voices expressed. But one must remember that both organisations and individuals are under no responsibility to incriminate themselves. Can I remind people also that legal privilege cannot be applied retrospectively. You need to take legal advice as early as possible where the possibility of court action exists. It is not simply a matter of sticking "Legally privileged" on the front page of a document as many people seem to believe can be done post event. Bob

Posted By Pete48 John, I am unclear about how lifting a couple of paragraphs from a complex judgement by the Lords of Appeal illustrates any specific point at all? As far as I am aware, the principle of legal privilege is clear and not changed by the consideration that you tabled? I am happy to learn otherwise? I agree it is not a simple matter and one that is often misunderstood and falsely relied upon; I read that as the point that Robert made in his post?

Posted By John Murgatroyd Maybe this site makes it clearer, communication not being my strong point. http://www.twobirds.com/...t_Retention_Policies.cfm

Posted By Robert K Lewis JM For some reason I get an error message following your link above. I do not think we are at odds over this. The courts are always able to take a view over the reality of any particular document being subject to privilege. What is and has always been clear is that you cannot apply it to a document after it has been written, drafted or otherwise committed to hard copy. I was making this point in particular as there is a tendency to believe that you can sit down with a bundle of documents, post a situation, and decide those which are privileged and those which are not. It is indeed complex and often takes a number of hours in training sessions for people to fully grasp the protocols necessary to jump the court hurdles - even then without a 100% guarantee of non-disclosure. Bob

Posted By Robert K Lewis JM I agree in many respects with your statements. All injured persons are entitled to the facts and associated documents such as the risk assessments among others and if they are entering litigation their legal adviser will request and must receive these under the various court protocols. However where the legal adviser to the company has specifically requested such as a detailed investigation in order to prepare legal advice to the company this is normally closed, unless the courts rule otherwise, by legal privilege. These reports will oftten provide the lawyer with detail concerning management failings and weaknesses. As I said previously a company is not required to provide these unless they have been committed to some form of document outside the boundary of privileged communication. There are all sorts of other ifs, buts and maybes, the message I gave remains the same. You cannot apply any form of privilege to documents retrospectively. It is not about ignoring the seriousness of an accident but rather about determining in an open honest manner how the problems of the organisation are resolved. For those who disagree with my view I would put the challenge that the next time they exceed a 30 mph limit by even 1 mph they contact the police and admit their offence. Bob

Posted By Robert K Lewis JM I could not agree more. Nothing I have said seeks to contradict this. As I said it is a complex area and needs a great deal of study to fully comprehend Bob

Posted By jom L.P. is not a right, but a privelege. It belongs to the client, not the lawyer. It exists to facilitate justice for the benefit of society, not for the benefit of the client. As a privelege, it can be denied if that will benefit society. John.