Compatibility of the restrictions of legal professional privilege imposed by money laundering legislation with ECHR

By Petros Pantazopoulos, Attorney at Law, PHD.

The association between ECtHR and CJEU as regards the protection of fundamental rights – EctHR’s decision in Michaud v France.

In the aforementioned case (Michaud v France), the ECtHR, a few years after a former relevant decision of the CJEU, reviewed the compatibility of the restrictions of legal professional privilege imposed by money laundering legislation with ECHR. This study focuses on the analysis of these two judgments and the consequences of ECtHR’s decision, as regards lawyers’ activity. Moreover, the study deals with the matter of the control of EU legislation in the light of fundamental rights (this matter arose in the framework of Michaud v France case in a sort of response to the previous decision in the case Bosphorus v Republic of Ireland) and the presumption of compatibility of the EU legislation with ECHR (the ECtHR formulated this presumption in the aforementioned decision). This remains a matter of particular interest given that, since then, the Charter of Fundamental Rights entered into force and the EU accession to ECHR.

For more information, please contact: ppantazopoulos@fdmalaw.com