Young and Department of Justice and Attorney-General

Application number:
210637
Decision date:
Thursday, Feb 26, 2009

Young and Department of Justice and Attorney-General
(210637, 26 February 2009)

 

Section 43(1) Legal Professional Privilege

 

The applicant sought access to the legal report prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for application to the Attorney-General (AG) seeking consent to commence a prosecution for a charge of conspiracy as required under section 541(2) of the Criminal Code.  Assistant Commissioner Henry found that the legal report was exempt from disclosure on the ground of legal professional privilege under section 43(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 1992 (FOI Act).

 

Section 28A(1) Refusal of Access – document nonexistent

 

The applicant sought access to the document in which the AG stated her reasons for changing the charge from stealing to conspiracy to steal.

 

On the basis of the process outlined under section 541(2) of the Criminal Code which requires the DPP to apply to the AG for consent to commence a prosecution for a charge of conspiracy, Assistant Commissioner Henry found there were reasonable grounds upon which to be satisfied that no further documents existed which were responsive to the FOI application. Access was refused under section 28A(1) of the FOI Act.