Jennifer Robinson, a barrister representing Julian Assange and WikiLeaks since October 2010, said she was subjected to surveillance by the UK government because of her legal work. The alleged monitoring raised concerns about legal professional privilege, lawyer-client confidentiality, and the ability of defendants in politically sensitive cases to obtain independent representation. Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada also criticized earlier disclosure of correspondence involving Robinson by the US State Department, saying it placed her at risk and interfered with Assange’s right to counsel.
In 2022, Robinson reached a friendly settlement with the UK government in proceedings brought under the European Convention on Human Rights. The government admitted that its conduct violated her privacy and freedom-of-expression rights, although the supplied source does not state the surveillance methods, the settlement’s financial terms, or whether any officials were disciplined. The case remains significant as a documented privacy and due-process controversy involving state monitoring of a lawyer acting for a prominent publisher and defendant.
