Australian Building & Construction Commissioner v CFMEU & Ors (No.5)

The Australian Building and Construction Commissioner (ABCC) brought proceedings against the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU) and other respondents. The dispute concerned an application by the ABCC for a declaration that discovery of certain documents was appropriate in the interests of the administration of justice, and an objection by the CFMMEU to the inspection of documents produced in response to a subpoena. The matter was heard by Judge Manousaridis in the Federal Court of Australia.

The primary legal issues before the Court were whether the documents sought by the ABCC for discovery were relevant to the proceedings, and whether the documents produced by the CFMMEU in response to a subpoena were apparently relevant, thereby overcoming the objection to their inspection.

Judge Manousaridis reasoned that for documents to be discoverable, they must be relevant to the issues in dispute. Similarly, documents produced under subpoena are subject to inspection unless a valid objection is raised. The Court considered the nature of the documents and their potential to shed light on the matters in contention. The objection to inspection was dismissed, and the application for discovery was also dismissed, indicating that the Court found the documents sought by the ABCC were not sufficiently relevant to warrant discovery.