The International Bar Association's (IBA) section on business law (SBL) has been denied permission to intervene in the European case on whether in-house lawyers should be granted privilege.

The SBL applied to the European Court of First Instance so it could support the case for privilege in the Akzo Nobel case, which deals with whether privilege should apply in raids by the European Commission (EC).


However, the court ruled that the SBL's objectives do not include representing members or protecting their interests. It also said the SBL could not take action in the name of the IBA without the approval of the IBA council, which it did not have.


The court therefore found that the SBL is not a representative association for the purposes of making an intervention, and ordered it to pay the EC's costs for the application.


The unilateral action of the SBL to intervene caused friction within the IBA, as it did not consult national law societies and bar associations, which are represented on the council. This is the second time it has done so - last year, the SBL was attacked for doing the same over draft guidelines on regulating lawyers who work temporarily in another country.


SBL chairman Fernando Pelàez-Pier said the section 'regrets' the ruling and is conferring with counsel to consider its options. He said that, in any event, the SBL will continue to actively support the concept of legal privilege for in-house counsel.