Documentary Evidence - 9781847036155

Documentary Evidence guides you through the ways in which you should submit, analyse and present documentary evidence when in civil litigation. Discussing in depth the key principles and problem areas of disclosure you can be sure that nothing is missed.

Provides a comprehensive guide to the principles, obligations and protections of disclosure, legal professional privilege and other aspects of evidence in the form of documents
Discusses in depth the key principles and problem areas of disclosure, and how to raise, or combat, the available defences against it
Advises on how to obtain, assess and manage the documents needed and how to identify the key issues
Analyses the extent of the powers of regulatory or public bodies to obtain or disclose documents
Discusses how the Civil Procedure Rules have changed the position on disclosure in important respects – from pre-action protocols and powers, to objections to disclosure and inspection, to the practicalities and problem areas of CPR disclosure, to the failure and abuse of disclosure obligations
Sets out the rights of access to documents, including those held by companies, trusts, partners, receivers and agents, as well as access to court documents, and the means by which data can be accessed
Explains fully the nature of legal professional privilege – what rights different types of privilege provide, their breadth and limits, when and how to claim or waive them
Describes the issues and obligations of confidentiality, including the development of the "collateral undertaking", or proscriptions against the misuse of information obtained through disclosure, both prior to and under the CPR
Discusses how to deal with international elements of a case, such as witnesses out of the jurisdiction, evidence in the jurisdiction for foreign proceedings, discovery proceedings abroad, documentary orders against foreign entities, the powers of and principles applied to by the English court and the application of foreign law
Authored by a renowned QC Charles Hollander, who provides detailed analysis, practical advice and robust views often derived from cases in which he has been personally involved

Contents

Initial advice
Pre-action disclosure from the opposing party
Early disclosure in the proceedings from the opposing party
Disclosure from non-parties and witnesses
Disclosure from facilitators: Norwich Pharmacal
Other rights of access to documents
Disclosure
Practicalities of CPR disclosure
Objections to disclosure and inspection
Failure and abuse of disclosure obligations
The nature of legal professional privilege
Claiming privilege
Legal advice privilege
Litigation privilege
Joint privilege and common interest privilege
Without prejudice privilege
Privilege against self-incrimination
Public interest immunity
Loss and waiver of privilege
Loss of privilege through inadvertence and fraud
The collateral undertaking
The international element
Witness statements and other written evidence
Expert reports
The Civil Evidence Act 1995
Powers of investigation