John Delaney's Legal Privilege Claim Rejected After Failure To Discharge Burden Of Proof

• Published date: 17 November 2022
• Law Firm: William Fry
• Author: Ms Lisa Carty, Deirdre O'Donovan and Kate Abell

The Director of Corporate Enforcement (Director) applied to the High Court (Court) in 2021 concerning documents that were seized from the offices of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) on foot of a search warrant. The Director sought a determination under the Companies Act 2014 (Companies Act) as to whether certain documents attract legal professional privilege (LPP).

Section 795 of the Companies Act requires the Court to determine whether a person is entitled to refuse to produce a document on the grounds of LPP.

Two independent persons were appointed under Section 795(6) of the Companies Act to prepare a report (Report) to assist the Court in determining the LPP question. This resulted in a significant reduction in the number of documents at issue. The FAI's former Chief Executive Officer, John Delaney, asserted LPP over these documents. LPP encompasses legal advice privilege and litigation privilege.

Legal Advice Privilege

The Court noted that legal advice privilege includes documentation prepared in contemplation of litigation and extends to any communication made for the purposes of obtaining legal advice. To successfully...