Kent Pharmaceuticals Ltd, (R on Application of) v Serious Fraud Office & Anor, Court of Appeal - Administrative Court, December 17, 2003, [2003] EWHC 3002 (Admin)

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Kent Pharmaceuticals Ltd, (R on Application of) v Serious Fraud Office & Anor, Court of Appeal - Administrative Court, December 17, 2003, [2003] EWHC 3002 (Admin)

Case No: CO/1762/2003

Neutral Citation [2003] EWHC 3002 (Admin)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE

QUEENS BENCH DIVISION

ADMINISTRATIVE COURT

Royal Courts of Justice

Strand,

London, WC2A 2LL

Wednesday 17 December 2003

Before :

THE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE MAURICE KAY

THE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE MACKAY

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Between :

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(Transcript of the Handed Down Judgment of

Smith Bernal Wordwave Limited, 190 Fleet Street

London EC4A 2AG

Tel No: 020 7421 4040, Fax No: 020 7831 8838

Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)

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Mr S Isaacs QC, Mr Clive Lewis (instructed by Brachers Solicitors) for the Claimant

Mr D Perry, Mr M Lucraft (instructed by Treasury Solicitors) for the Defendant

Philip Jones (instructed by Peters and Peters, Solicitors) for the Interested Party

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Judgment

Mr Justice Maurice Kay :

1. This is the judgment of the Court to which both members have contributed. It relates to a claim for judicial review by Kent Pharmaceuticals (``KP'') of a decision of the Director of the Serious Fraud Office (``the SFO'') to disclose copies of documents seized from KP to the Department of Health (``the DoH''). KP seeks a declaration that the decision of the Director of the SFO on 14th January 2003 to disclose copies of documents seized from KP to the DoH is unlawful. KP also claims damages and, by an amendment to its claim form, a declaration that the Director of the SFO is obliged to notify it of any disclosure to a government department of information contained in documents seized from the Claimant.

The facts

2. The claim arises out of an as yet unconcluded investigation into suspected serious fraud. The investigation concerns generic drugs supplied by a number of companies, one of which is KP, to the National Health Service. The SFO had received information suggesting that a number of companies within the industry, including KP, had acted unlawfully in concert so as to increase the selling price of certain generic drugs, in particular Warfarin and penicillin-based antibiotics.

3. On 27th March 2002 a District Judge at Bow Street Magistrates' Court was asked to consider a written application by the SFO for search warrants. An oral application for warrant...

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