We aim to make this site as accessible as possible and therefore have provided the settings below to use if you are finding it difficult to view this website. See the SFO Accessibility Statement for more information.

Where it is appropriate to provide a Welsh translation, you can switch to Cymraeg. See the Welsh Language Commissioner website for more information.

Use the settings button in the bottom right corner of the page to access these settings again.

Change to normal text size A Change to medium text size A Change to large text size A Adjust Text Size

We would like to use Analytics Cookies on our website. 

Turn these on below if you are happy with us collecting information on how our site is used, in order for us to improve the overall experience of our website. 

All other cookies are necessary and therefore by continuing to browse this website, you are agreeing to the usage of these cookies.

 See the SFO Privacy Policy for more information. 

Analytics Cookies

Landmark High Court win for the SFO

28 January, 2016 | News Releases

The High Court yesterday ruled in favour of the SFO over the way it handles the identification of material potentially subject to Legal Professional Privilege (LPP).

This significant ruling follows a challenge at the High Court by an individual, Colin McKenzie, who is the subject of an SFO investigation.

Mr McKenzie claimed that the SFO’s procedure, as set out in the SFO’s Operational Handbook and the Attorney General’s Supplementary Guidelines on Digitally Stored Material (2011) (which appear as an Annex to the 2013 Guidelines on Disclosure), for isolating material potentially subject to LPP, for the purpose of making it available to an independent lawyer for review, is unlawful.

The High Court disagreed. It held that that the SFO’s use of in-house technical experts to isolate material potentially subject to LPP was lawful and that it did not therefore need rely on external contractors to do this work. This judgment is significant both to the SFO and other law enforcement bodies.

For the full judgment please visit the Judiciary website. The SFO was awarded its costs and was represented in court by Jonathan Hall QC of 6KBW College Hill and James Segan of Blackstone Chambers.