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The AM & S Case

European Court of Justice
[1982] E.C.R. 1575 (1982)

Written by Robert Cane, JD

Facts

The Commission of the European Communities (commission) (defendant) initiated an investigation against Australian Mining and Smelting Europe Limited (AM & S) (plaintiff) for possible infringement of competition rules in violation of the Treaty of Rome (treaty). The commission requested that AM & S produce certain documents to the commission for purposes of the investigation. AM & S provided the commission with some documents but claimed that other documents were confidential and were protected by attorney-client privilege. The documents for which AM & S claimed protection were written communications between AM & S and an independent lawyer and concerned the likelihood that AM & S would face legal liability in a future legal proceeding related to a violation of competition rules under the treaty. The commission rejected the claim of attorney-client privilege for the documents that AM & S did not provide to the commission. AM & S appealed the commission’s decision.

Rule of Law

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Issue

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Holding and Reasoning (Slynn, J.)

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A "yes" or "no" answer to the question framed in the issue section;
A summary of the majority or plurality opinion, using the CREAC method; and
The procedural disposition (e.g., reversed and remanded, affirmed, etc.).

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