Peters & Peters

Mutual legal assistance request leading to judicial review of the Secretary of State

The firm represented a number of individuals whose names appeared in documents that had been provided to the SFO in response to a Latvian mutual legal assistance request relating to a complex corruption investigation in Latvia, which the clients contended was politically motivated. Peters & Peters instigated a judicial review of the Secretary of State’s decision to allow the request on the basis that there were no reasonable grounds for believing that an offence had been committed, and that the Latvian investigation was politically motivated. As one of the clients had been subject to threats by Latvian agents, the firm took the unusual step of pursuing the claim without disclosing the names of the clients.