Bolton and Australian Securities and Investments Commission

The proceeding concerned an application by Mr Bolton, the liquidator of a company, for review of a decision by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The dispute centred on whether certain documents, which ASIC had relied upon to form an opinion in a report prepared under section 533 of the *Corporations Act 2001* (Cth), were subject to legal professional privilege. The matter came before Deputy President Forgie of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether legal professional privilege applied to the documents in question, particularly in light of ASIC's ongoing obligations under section 38AA of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth). A further issue was whether the liquidator, in his capacity as liquidator, could be considered an expert witness for the purposes of the proceedings.

Deputy President Forgie considered the nature of the documents and the circumstances under which they were created. The Tribunal applied the principles of legal professional privilege, focusing on whether the documents were created for the dominant purpose of obtaining legal advice or for use in litigation. The Tribunal also considered the role and expertise of the liquidator in the context of the proceedings, determining whether his status as liquidator qualified him as an expert for the purposes of giving evidence.

The Tribunal made rulings on the admissibility of the documents and the capacity of the liquidator to provide expert evidence.