Doyle v Commissioner of Police (No 4)

The proceeding concerned a dispute between Mr Doyle and the Commissioner of Police regarding a computer and a copy of its hard drive seized under a search warrant. The Supreme Court of New South Wales Court of Appeal was asked to consider whether discretionary relief should be granted for the destruction of these items, given that the search warrant was found to be invalid and the hard drive contained child abuse material.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether to grant interlocutory relief to Mr Doyle for the destruction of the seized computer and its hard drive copy. This arose in circumstances where the police wished to investigate the child abuse material found on the hard drive but were presently subject to an interlocutory regime that restricted their actions. The Court was required to balance Mr Doyle's proprietary rights against the public interest in investigating serious criminal offences.

Leeming JA reasoned that while the search warrant was invalid, the court's discretion to grant relief for the destruction of property must be exercised having regard to all relevant circumstances. His Honour noted that the child abuse material constituted evidence of serious criminal offences, and the public interest in its investigation weighed heavily against ordering its destruction. The Court considered the undertakings previously given by the Commissioner and members of the Digital Forensics Unit, which had been established to manage the seized material pending further orders.

The Court ordered the discharge of a previous order made by the Court in its Common Law Division on 20 December 2019, in respect of the laptop. Furthermore, to the extent necessary, the undertakings previously provided by the legal practitioners retained by the Commissioner and members of the Digital Forensics Unit were discharged, thereby releasing the police from the restrictions imposed by the interlocutory regime.