The Irish Haemophilia Society has failed in a bid to get the blood bank to provide additional information about confidential papers it has chosen not to submit to the Lindsay Tribunal. The Tribunal chairwoman, Judge Alison Lindsay, ruled today that while the IHS had put forward a "cogent argument", it had not produced the required "cogent evidence" to secure such an order.
Under what is known as "legal professional privilege", any client before a Tribunal, or High Court, has a constitutional right to withhold a document if it relates to legal advice or litigation. Yesterday, the legal team of the Irish Haemophilia Society argued it was a "complete mystery" as to what documents the blood bank was claiming legal professional privilege over.
Martin Giblin, Senior Counsel, suggested the list of withheld papers submitted by the Blood Transfusion Service Board was so brief that it made it "impossible" to assess if the claim was justified. He requested that the BTSB be ordered to produce an additional affidavit out ling the "general nature" of the document being withheld.
However Judge Alison Lindsay ruled this morning that the BTSB had "fully complied" with an earlier order she made on legal professional privilege. She stated that the IHS needed to provide "cogent evidence" rather than a "cogent argument" for her to go any further and, as this was not forthcoming, she could not see any reason to "go behind" the BTSB list.
Judge Lindsay also turned down a request by the IHS that it be allowed to cross-examine the BTSB's Deputy Medical Director, Dr Emer Lawlor, about the list.
