Ferguson and Criminal Justice Commission

Ferguson and Criminal Justice Commission
(1993 S0098, 13 April 1999) 

The Information Commissioner rejected claims that three memoranda prepared by officers in the Official Misconduct Division of the CJC, containing advice and recommendations in relation to the handling of complaints made to the CJC by the applicant, were exempt matter under s.43(1) of the FOI Act.

Although they were prepared by legal officers of the CJC who were qualified to provide independent legal advice to the CJC, it was necessary to determine whether each memorandum was created solely for a purpose attracting legal professional privilege: see Hewitt and Queensland Law Society Inc and Legal Ombudsman (1998) 4 QAR 328, the Information Commissioner found that the memoranda were created predominantly for an executive or administrative purpose, and not solely for a privileged purpose.  The Information Commissioner made a similar finding in relation to matter in another memorandum which recorded information provided by a legally qualified officer of the CJC.  However, the Information Commissioner found that a small amount of matter in issue was exempt matter under s.41(1) of the FOI Act.