Law v Wollondilly Shire Council

The case of Law v Wollondilly Shire Council was heard before the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales. The plaintiff, Law, sought access to certain documents under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009. The documents were held by the Wollondilly Shire Council, which refused to release them, citing various privileges and confidentiality concerns. The dispute centred on the applicability of client legal privilege, litigation privilege, and without prejudice privilege to the documents in question.

The court was tasked with determining whether the documents were subject to any of these privileges and, if so, whether any such privilege had been waived. Specifically, the court needed to examine whether the documents were created for the purpose of obtaining or providing legal advice, thereby falling under client legal privilege, or whether they were prepared in anticipation of litigation, thus being subject to litigation privilege. Additionally, the court considered whether communications were made in a without prejudice context, which would entitle them to protection.

The court found that the documents were indeed subject to client legal privilege and litigation privilege, as they were created for the purpose of obtaining legal advice and in anticipation of litigation, respectively. The court held that there was no evidence of a waiver of these privileges. The communications were also found to be protected by without prejudice privilege, as they were made in a context intended to facilitate settlement discussions without fear of those communications being used in subsequent legal proceedings. As a result, the court affirmed the decision of the Council to deny access to the documents.