Self-incrimination

CPLC and another v P CA TLR 28 May

Privilege against self-incrimination does not extend to prevent the use of documents or other material revealed as the result of compliance with a search order made by the court. Accordingly, where the execution of a civil search order led to the discovery of obscene images of children, the common law privilege against self-incrimination did not prevent the court from directing that the material be passed to the police. Before the search commenced, the supervising solicitor was informed that the defendant would rely on his privilege against self-incrimination in respect of any material which the search might disclose. A number of computers were removed and found to contain highly objectionable images of children, which it would be an offence to be in possession of. When the claimants applied to the court for directions as to what should be done with the offending material, the court ordered that it should be handed to the police. In upholding the judge’s decision, the Court of Appeal said that the privilege could be invoked to refuse to answer interrogatories or to refuse to disclose matters which were ordinarily discoverable; those matters might be documents or other things, but independent matters coming to light in the course of executing a proper order of the court were in an altogether different category. Therefore although the offending material had to be disclosed to the supervising solicitor and the computer experts by virtue of the order, there was no privilege in the offending material itself, which was material which existed independently of the order.