Commissioner of Police v Hughes

The Commissioner of Police appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal against a decision of McLoughlin DCJ, who had ordered the Commissioner to produce documents in response to a subpoena issued by the respondent, Mr. Hughes. The dispute concerned whether certain documents, specifically copies of original documents that were not themselves privileged, were protected from production by a statutory privilege afforded to the police.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was the extent of the statutory privilege granted to police officers under the *Police Act 1990* (NSW) and associated regulations, particularly concerning copies of documents made for the purpose of internal police investigations. The court had to determine whether this privilege extended to copies of documents that would not otherwise be privileged if those copies were created for a legitimate forensic purpose within the police force.

The Court of Appeal, comprising Ipp and Young JJA and Handley AJA, allowed the appeal. The court reasoned that the privilege under UCR 1.9(3) and s 170 of the *Police Act 1990* was intended to protect documents created for the purpose of internal police investigations, even if the original documents were not privileged. The court found that the subpoena had been wrongly issued and set aside the District Court's order for production. The Commissioner of Police was ordered to pay the respondent's costs of the appeal.