Bradley Eade-Smith v Commissioner of Police [2009] NSWIRComm 37

Bradley Eade-Smith v Commissioner of Police [2009] NSWIRComm 37

Orders for production are granted where documents sought are sufficiently identifiable and are apparently relevant to issues in principal proceedings, unless requests are oppressive, too broad, or lack legitimate forensic purpose. Internal working documents may be relevant. Requests are not in themselves discovery if they do not require the respondent to form a judgment about relevance to issues, and are not oppressive. Production is denied where requests are manifestly irrelevant, overly broad, or lack legitimate forensic purpose.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
20 March 2009
Procedural Posture
Application Under S 181 E of the Police Act 1990 / Interlocutory Decision on Notices of Motion to Set Aside Summonses and Notices to Produce
Outcome
Notice of motion filed by respondent on 18 February 2009 dismissed; notice of motion filed on 27 February 2009 granted in part and dismissed in part.
Legal Topics
['production of Documents' 'relevance Threshold' 'oppression' 'request for Discovery' 'legal Professional Privilege' 'procedural Fairness' 'review of Removal Under S181 D Police Act']
['industrial Relations' 'administrative Law'] ['production of Documents' 'relevance Threshold' 'oppression' 'request for Discovery' 'legal Professional Privilege' 'procedural Fairness' 'review of Removal Under S181 D Police Act']

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Procedural Posture

Application Under S 181 E of the Police Act 1990 / Interlocutory Decision on Notices of Motion to Set Aside Summonses and Notices to Produce

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether documents or materials sought by applicant are of apparent relevance to principal proceedings' 'Whether summonses or notice to produce are oppressive' 'Whether documents sought constitute a request for discovery' 'Whether any documents are subject to legal professional privilege' 'Whether requests constitute abuse of process']

Ratio Decidendi

Orders for production are granted where documents sought are sufficiently identifiable and are apparently relevant to issues in principal proceedings, unless requests are oppressive, too broad, or lack legitimate forensic purpose. Internal working documents may be relevant. Requests are not in themselves discovery if they do not require the respondent to form a judgment about relevance to issues, and are not oppressive. Production is denied where requests are manifestly irrelevant, overly broad, or lack legitimate forensic purpose.

Court Disposition

Notice of motion filed by respondent on 18 February 2009 dismissed; notice of motion filed on 27 February 2009 granted in part and dismissed in part.

Orders

  • ['Notice of motion filed by respondent on 18 February 2009 dismissed.' "Order 1 of respondent's notice of motion filed on 27 February 2009 granted in so far as it sets aside paragraph 7 of applicant's notice to produce served 19 February 2009 and paragraphs 3 and 4 of summons for production filed 24 February 2009."...