Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 908F

Privileged legal material

Section 908F sets out the procedures for determining whether a document withheld on grounds of legal professional privilege is in fact privileged legal material, in the context of a production order made under section 908E.

• Where a person refuses to produce a document under a section 908E order claiming legal professional privilege, either the person or the authorised officer may apply to the District Court for a determination on whether the document is privileged legal material.
• Pending a determination, the person claiming privilege must preserve the document safely; if the court finds it is not privileged, the document must be produced in accordance with the original order.
• Where the volume of documents is substantial, the judge may appoint a suitably qualified and independent person to examine the documents and prepare a report to assist the court in reaching its determination.
• An appeal against the District Court's determination lies to the Circuit Court only, and rules of court may provide for the expeditious hearing of applications under this section.