Marsden v Amalgamated Television Services Pty Limited [1999] NSWSC 215

Marsden v Amalgamated Television Services Pty Limited [1999] NSWSC 215

The subpoena was founded by identified areas of relevance to the defendant's application for leave to amend its defence of justification, including the circumstances in which police produced statements relied on by the defendant and whether there was any ongoing police investigation of the plaintiff. Those matters could bear on both substantive and discretionary factors in the amendment application, including how and when the defendant obtained information for its proposed amended case. Applying the Waind v Hill approach at the production stage, the documents could not be treated as having no conceivable relation to the proceedings, so the subpoena should not be set aside.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
15 March 1999
Procedural Posture
Defamation Proceedings; Application by NSW Police to Have Set Aside Subpoena to Produce Documents Issued by Plaintiff / Notice of Motion Heard and Determined Ex Tempore on 15 March 1999
Outcome
Application to set aside the subpoena declined.
Legal Topics
['subpoena to Produce Documents' 'application to Set Aside Subpoena' 'abuse of Process' 'legitimate Forensic Purpose' 'relevance' 'public Interest Immunity']
['civil Procedure' 'defamation' 'evidence'] ['subpoena to Produce Documents' 'application to Set Aside Subpoena' 'abuse of Process' 'legitimate Forensic Purpose' 'relevance' 'public Interest Immunity']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Defamation Proceedings; Application by NSW Police to Have Set Aside Subpoena to Produce Documents Issued by Plaintiff / Notice of Motion Heard and Determined Ex Tempore on 15 March 1999

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the subpoena issued by the plaintiff to the New South Wales Police Service should be set aside as an abuse of process for lack of legitimate forensic purpose.' 'Whether the documents sought by the subpoena had no conceivable relation to the proceedings.' 'Whether parts of the subpoena were oppressive because they required the Commissioner to form judgments or make enquiries before answering it.']

Ratio Decidendi

The subpoena was founded by identified areas of relevance to the defendant's application for leave to amend its defence of justification, including the circumstances in which police produced statements relied on by the defendant and whether there was any ongoing police investigation of the plaintiff. Those matters could bear on both substantive and discretionary factors in the amendment application, including how and when the defendant obtained information for its proposed amended case. Applying the Waind v Hill approach at the production stage, the documents could not be treated as having no conceivable relation to the proceedings, so the subpoena should not be set aside.

Court Disposition

Application to set aside the subpoena declined.

Orders

  • ['The subpoena was not set aside.']