Attorney-General in and for the State of New South Wales

The case involved an application by the Attorney-General in and for the State of New South Wales to the Supreme Court of New South Wales, pursuant to the Evidence on Commission Act 1995. The Turkish Court had made a request for certain documents and evidence to be obtained and produced in Australia for use in a criminal proceeding in Turkey. The application was made ex-parte, without the presence of the respondent. The legal issues before the court were whether the court had the jurisdiction to make the orders and whether the orders were in the interests of justice.

The court found that it did have jurisdiction to make the orders and that the application was in the interests of justice. The court noted that the Evidence on Commission Act 1995 provided for the court to make orders for the production of documents and evidence in response to requests from foreign courts, and that the court had previously made similar orders in other cases. The court also considered that the orders were necessary to facilitate international cooperation in the fight against crime, and that there was no evidence that the orders would cause injustice to any person. The court concluded that the orders were appropriate and should be made.

Accordingly, the court made orders under section 14 of the Evidence on Commission Act 1995, directing the production of certain documents and evidence to the Turkish Court. The orders were made on the condition that the documents and evidence would only be used for the purposes of the criminal proceeding in Turkey, and that they would be returned to Australia at the conclusion of the proceeding. The orders also included provisions for the protection of the privacy and confidentiality of the information contained in the documents and evidence.