As to the rest of the material, having considered everything which I have set out in this judgment, I come to the conclusion that the proper course in the circumstances of this case is that the Bank should be released from the implied undertaking which arose on disclosure by the Crown of unused material in the prosecution. This means that that material may be disclosed and used in these proceedings but subject to the undertaking of all parties not to use it for any purpose other than the conduct of these proceedings.
Mr Whelan told me this morning that some of the statements which were obtained under compulsory powers were not, in fact, obtained under the provisions of the Jersey law. The statements were taken in England under the corresponding English statute as the result of a request addressed by the Attorney General to the English authorities, for their help in the criminal investigation. This help was granted, Mr Whelan tells me, only on an undertaking by the Attorney General that any information obtained would be used only for the purpose of the prosecution. Unfortunately, this information was only given to me at the last possible moment, when Mr Whelan was delivering his reply at the end of the argument today. I entirely accept that there was nothing deliberate about the delay of this information, but it is, nonetheless, to be regretted. It means that the matter must now be handled under pressure of time which might otherwise have been avoided.
I am now going to invite the help of the parties about the way in which the decision I have given should in fact be put into practice, and in the course of that I shall deal with what is to be done about the undertaking given by the Attorney General to the authorities in England.
Authorities
Taylor -v- S.F.O. [1997] 3 All ER 687 C.of A
Taylor -v- S.F.O. (29 October 1998) Unreported Judgment House of Lords
Mahn -v- Rahn [1998] QB 424 C.of A