Hillston v Bar-Mordecai

The matter of Hillston v Bar-Mordecai involved a dispute between the two parties, with the legal issue of whether a subpoena could be issued by the Supreme Court for documents held by the Family Court. The case was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The plaintiff sought to inspect certain documents held by the Family Court, which were relevant to the proceedings in the Supreme Court. The Family Court, however, was reluctant to hand over the documents, arguing that it was not subject to the subpoena power of the Supreme Court.

The court had to determine whether a subpoena could be issued by the Supreme Court for documents held by the Family Court. The court also needed to decide whether the Family Court was obligated to produce the documents in response to the subpoena, and whether the plaintiff was entitled to inspect the documents. Furthermore, the court had to consider the principles of confidentiality that applied to Family Court files, and whether those principles should limit the scope of inspection granted to the plaintiff.

The court found that the Family Court was not subject to the subpoena power of the Supreme Court, and that the production of the Family Court file was an act of judicial comity. However, in deciding whether to grant leave to inspect the file, the court should observe the substance of the relevant rules of court, even though they did not literally apply. The court held that the principles of confidentiality that applied to Family Court files were of high value, and that the scope of inspection should be limited to the parts of the file that contained information relevant to the issues in the Supreme Court. The court ultimately granted leave to inspect limited parts of the Family Court file.

The court ordered that the plaintiff be granted leave to inspect limited parts of the Family Court file, and that the Family Court file be produced to the Supreme Court by the Family Court Registrar in response to a Letter of Request issued by the Supreme Court Registrar. The court also ordered that the inspection be conducted in the presence of a representative of the Family Court, to ensure that the principles of confidentiality were not breached.