Price and Department of Justice and Attorney-General
(1999 S0132, 28 March 2002)
The Deputy Information Commissioner found that the documents remaining in issue were exempt from disclosure to the applicant under s.43(1) of the FOI Act, as they were confidential communications between Crown Law, counsel and the QPS made for the dominant purpose of seeking or giving legal advice or professional legal assistance, or confidential communications made for the dominant purpose of use, or obtaining material for use, in litigation that had commenced, or was reasonably anticipated at the relevant time.
In determining that a copying charge was payable for documents that the Department had agreed to disclose to the applicant, the Deputy Information Commissioner observed that, while most of the documents contained a reference to the applicant's name as a party to the relevant litigation, those mere references were not sufficient to characterise the documents as documents concerning the applicant's personal affairs. Otherwise, the documents contained no information about the applicant's personal affairs. The documents were properly to be characterised as documents concerning the conduct and administration of the relevant litigation by Crown Law on behalf of its client.
