Confidentiality of communications: ECJ Advocate General Kokott suggests not to extend the legal professional privilege to in-house lawyers (Akzo Nobel Chemicals)

*This article is an automatic translation of the original article, provided here for your convenience. Read the original article. Advocate General Juliane Kokott has therefore delivered her Opinion today, 29 April 2010, on the following questions Opinion in Case C-550/07 (Akzo Nobel Chemicals Ltd and Others v Commission of the European Communities European Commission) on the issue of the scope of protection of the confidentiality of communication between lawyers and clients (legal professional privilege). In other words, it is not in favour of the extension of the from legal privilege to in-house counsel, even if they are also lawyers, despite the truly abundant arguments put forward not only by the two applicants but also by the 'other parties to the proceedings', that is to say,