In 2025, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that when a lawyer submits privileged documents and exhibits in tax proceedings, this does not result in a waiver of legal privilege in subsequent criminal proceedings concerning those same materials. However, submitting such documents in a tax case may lead to the judge referencing or quoting from them in the court's judgment. Once the judgment is published, it is possible that the privileged content becomes publicly accessible. In such cases, the confidential nature of the information is lost, and the lawyer can no longer invoke legal privilege over it. The Supreme Court emphasized that the fact certain information was initially privileged does not restrict the court's discretion in deciding what to include in its judgment.

In addition to the above, several other judgments (including from the Supreme Court) were rendered regarding the scope of legal privilege in the context of criminal investigations conducted by the Dutch Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie). For example, the Supreme Court clarified various guidelines that the Prosecution Service must follow when, in the context of a criminal investigation against an individual or legal entity, the Prosecution Service has requested or seized documents or information, particularly in situations where it is unclear in advance whether, and to what extent, the requested or disclosed information is protected by legal privilege. On 24 May 2022, the Dutch Supreme Court passed judgment in a case between a multinational company with a large number of both national and international in-house counsel and 15 of its in-house lawyers on the one hand, and the Dutch Public Prosecution Service on the other.¹ Although the parties' complaints were inadmissible, the Supreme Court took the opportunity to provide some insights in relation to the scope and application of legal professional privilege of in-house lawyers by way of obiter dictum. The Supreme Court ruled that in-house lawyers have the right to privilege, subject to certain conditions.

[1] HR 24 May 2022, ECLI:NL:HR:2022:760.