New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Confidentiality of discovered documents

Legal area

Court

4 Nov 2020

TAHI ENTERPRISES LTD v TE WARENA TAUA & Ors [2020] NZHC 2891

Citation

[2020] NZHC 2891
Court

High Court

The Court declined to order discovery of the Te Kawerau ā Maki membership Register or hui attendance lists under r 8.19 because the Register's personal data was not materially relevant to the substantive issues (authority/agency) but only served to identify potential defendants; ordering discovery would intrude on the privacy/confidentiality of about 400 individuals and required the same weighing exercise already undertaken by Associate Judge Smith under r 8.20/Norwich Pharmacal, risking inconsistency and duplicative litigation. The Court also refused discovery of documents relating to the MO…
27 Mar 2018

ALL SAFE SCAFFOLD LIMITED v COASTAL PROPERTIES LIMITED [2018] NZHC 608

Citation

[2018] NZHC 608
Court

High Court

The court ordered All Safe to file a further affidavit of documents by 10 April 2018 disclosing BDO working papers relevant to the salary allocation dispute and to relist with particularity any documents claimed to attract litigation privilege; all claims for confidentiality restricting inspection by the director Coghlan were set aside; the court imposed a timetable for further evidence and rescheduled the substantive hearing to 28–29 June 2018; costs of the discovery application were awarded against All Safe (Category 2).
17 Nov 2017

TRUSTEES EXECUTORS LIMITED v FUND MANAGERS CANTERBURY LIMITED [2017] NZHC 2792

Citation

[2017] NZHC 2792
Court

High Court

The court ordered particular discovery of the FMA July 2014 report as relevant; it recognised a legitimate confidentiality interest in Deloitte's personnel/performance review documents but limited inspection to two nominated TEL representatives under strict conditions (access to hard copies at DLA Piper, no copies retained, no further disclosure without court permission); it refused to impose the broader relief sought by TEL for express undertakings and wholesale destruction/return of discovered documents as unnecessary or impractical; it ordered non-party discovery against the Crown in the t…

New Zealand Case Law

TAHI ENTERPRISES LTD v TE WARENA TAUA & Ors [2020] NZHC 2891

ALL SAFE SCAFFOLD LIMITED v COASTAL PROPERTIES LIMITED [2018] NZHC 608

TRUSTEES EXECUTORS LIMITED v FUND MANAGERS CANTERBURY LIMITED [2017] NZHC 2792