Brewer v Colonial Portfolio Services Ltd

The case of Brewer v Colonial Portfolio Services Ltd involved a dispute over the entitlement of a party who had inspected documents to obtain copies of those documents. The plaintiffs, Kevin Charles Brewer and Dianne Merrilyn Brewer, sought copies of certain documents from the first defendants, Colonial Portfolio Services Ltd and Westgate Property Investments Pty Ltd, which were not disclosed in the earlier affidavits. The court was required to decide whether privilege attached to the documents and whether copies of the documents were available to the other party. The defendants claimed that the documents were privileged and that the plaintiffs were not entitled to copies of them. The court considered the issue of whether it was open to the defendants to file an amended list and claim privilege over the documents. The court held that the defendants did not have the right to file an amended list and claim privilege over the documents as the plaintiffs' solicitor had inspected the documents on two occasions. The court also considered the issue of whether the plaintiffs were entitled to copies of the documents. The court held that the plaintiffs were entitled to copies of the documents as the right to take copies was ancillary to the right to inspect them. The court made orders in terms of the chamber summons, requiring the defendants to provide copies of the documents to the plaintiffs.