Keeping schtum: embargo no-nos

• In R v Counihan, the Court of Appeal Criminal Division re-emphasised the importance of embargoed draft judgments.
• For practitioners, the judgment provides a sobering warning and steer as to the preventative measures now required.

Civil practitioners will be aware of the repeated recent judicial warnings relating to breaches of embargoed draft judgments. In Her Majesty’s Attorney General v Crosland [2021] UKSC 58, [2022] 2 All ER 401, the Supreme Court considered a particular egregious breach and confirmed that embargoes are made for protecting the administration of justice (at [58]).

In R (Counsel General for Wales) v Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy [2022] EWCA Civ 181, [2022] 4 All ER 599, after accepting ‘unreserved apologies’ for the accidental breach caused by a misunderstanding in a chambers’ marketing department that led to the release of a pre-prepared press release early, the Master of the Rolls warned: ‘In future, those who break embargoes can expect to find themselves