Human rights

Privacy - revenue serving disclosure notices on foreign bank - any interference with right of privacy justifiedR v Inland Revenue Commissioners, ex p.

Banque Internationale a Luxembourg SA: QBD (Lightman J): 23 June 2000

In the course of investigations into large-scale corporate tax avoidance schemes the revenue served notices on the applicant bank requesting the disclosure of documents under s.20 of the Taxes Management Act 1970 and s.767 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988.

The bank sought judicial review of the decisions to issue the notices on the ground, among other things, that they breached their right to confidentiality and privacy.Gerard Clarke (instructed by Norton Rose) for the bank.

Ingrid Simler (instructed by the Solicitor for the Inland Revenue) for the revenue.Held, refusing the application, that if the notices did interfere with the bank's rights under art.8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1953) (Cmd.

8969), the interference was justified under art.8(2) since there was ample justification for the notices; and that the notices had been served in accordance with the law, were in pursuit of a legitimate aim and were necessary in a democratic society for protecting the taxation system and revenue.