Absolute privilege

Gray v Avadis QBD TLR 30 July

In the course of an investigation by the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors, the defendant’s solicitors made statements regarding the claimant’s mental health in response to communications from the Office, upon which the claimant founded proceedings for defamation. The principle that absolute privilege attached to words spoken or written in the course of giving evidence in proceedings in a court of justice has long been extended to evidence given before tribunals such as the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors, which acted in a manner similar to that in which courts of justice acted.