Disclosure

Among other things, the Court of Appeal gave guidance, when considering an application to the court to prohibit the dealing with or disposal of assets within the jurisdiction made by the National Crime Agency (NCA), at the request of the central authority of a friendly foreign state by way of mutual legal assistance, as to the just balance to strike between the right of a respondent to such an application to inspect the request forming the jurisdictional basis of the court’s power to grant the order and the general confidentiality of executive state to state communications.

In doing so, the Court of Appeal, in the present case, allowed the appellants’ appeal to the extent necessary to show the property identified in the request. Disclosure and inspection should be given if the NCA or the requesting central authority (the United States Department of Justice) wished to pursue it; such disclosure and inspection could be achieved by way of a redacted version of the request.