ICAEW prepared to lobby government for legal professional privilege

Ian Young, ICAEW

Parliament will be lobbied to create legislation to give accountants legal professional privilege, if the courts fail to open the door for the profession.

Interviewed on Accountancy Age TV, ICAEW tax faculty technical manager Ian Young said that the institute would call on the government to create parity for tax advisers with lawyers, who have legal professional privilege, if the courts fail to create a balance.

LPP is a common law right determined by the courts…and is a logical place to mount the arguments. But if the judgment of [the courts] is that there's no difference to be drawn between what accountants do and what lawyers do, and if LPP is a fundamental human right but some are denied it, then that's a travesty of the law and a strong argument for the government to feel minded to intervene if the courts can't address that balance," said Young.

For the full interview go to Accountancyage.com/tv