Pace v State of New South Wales & Ors [2015] NSWIC 7

Pace v State of New South Wales & Ors [2015] NSWIC 7

Most paragraphs of the notices to produce were set aside for lack of legitimate forensic purpose, oppression, or privilege; only documents within paragraph 13 (departmental and ministerial arrangements for proclamation of the Employee Transfer Act) are required to be produced to the Court, with leave reserved to argue privilege; historic requests and prior injury documents lacked sufficient proximity to the issues; privilege objections on instructions and advice documents are sustained.

Parties
Applicant: Alf Pace; First Respondent: State of New South Wales; Second Respondent: Technical and Further Education Commission; Third Respondent: Managing Director, Technical and Further Education Commission
Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
24 June 2015
Procedural Posture
Interlocutory Application / Ruling on Notices to Produce
Outcome
Notices to produce set aside in part; production to court only required for paragraph 13; costs reserved.
Legal Topics
Discovery and Notices to Produce, Legitimate Forensic Purpose, Privilege, Reinstatement, Stay of Orders, Statutory Interpretation
Civil Procedure Employment Law Industrial Law Discovery and Notices to Produce Legitimate Forensic Purpose Privilege Reinstatement Stay of Orders +1 more

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Parties

Alf Pace

Applicant

State of New South Wales

First Respondent

Technical and Further Education Commission

Second Respondent

Managing Director, Technical and Further Education Commission

Third Respondent

Procedural Posture

Interlocutory Application / Ruling on Notices to Produce

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the documents sought by applicant's notices to produce have legitimate forensic purpose
  2. 2 Whether the documents sought are subject to privilege
  3. 3 Whether the requests are oppressive or amount to discovery

Ratio Decidendi

Most paragraphs of the notices to produce were set aside for lack of legitimate forensic purpose, oppression, or privilege; only documents within paragraph 13 (departmental and ministerial arrangements for proclamation of the Employee Transfer Act) are required to be produced to the Court, with leave reserved to argue privilege; historic requests and prior injury documents lacked sufficient proximity to the issues; privilege objections on instructions and advice documents are sustained.

Court Disposition

Notices to produce set aside in part; production to court only required for paragraph 13; costs reserved.

Orders

  • Paragraphs 1-3, 5-12, 14-16 and 20-25 of notice to first respondent set aside.
  • Paragraph 4 set aside in part to extent it seeks documents before 1 September 2010.