Director of the Serious Fraud Office v Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Ltd

Queen's Bench Division, Mrs Justice Andrews, 6, 7, 8, 9 February; 8 May 2017

Legal professional privilege - Legal advice privilege - Litigation privilege - Serious Fraud Office application to High Court for declaration that documents over which privilege claimed were not subject to LPP - Criminal Justice Act 1987, section 2(3), 2(9)

ENRC is UK company, part of a multinational group operating in the mining and natural resources sector. In late April 2013, the SFO began a criminal investigation into ENRC and its subsidiaries in respect of allegations of fraud, bribery and money laundering in Kazakhstan and Africa. This followed a lengthy dialogue between ENRC and the SFO which commenced in August 2011 and which the judge found was pursuant to the SFO's 2009 Self-Reporting Guidelines. The company terminated this dialogue and the SFO's investigation continued.