Mann v Carnell

The case of *Mann v Carnell* involved an appeal to the High Court of Australia concerning the application of legal professional privilege in the context of preliminary discovery. The dispute centred on whether the Australian Capital Territory, through its Chief Minister, had waived its legal professional privilege over certain documents by disclosing them to a third party.

The primary legal issue before the High Court was whether the disclosure of documents, which were otherwise protected by legal professional privilege, to a member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly constituted a waiver of that privilege. This required the Court to consider the nature of the relationship between the ACT government and its legislators, and whether such disclosure amounted to communication with a "third party" in the context of privilege.

The High Court determined that the *Evidence Act 1995* (Cth) did not apply to the obligations arising in the ancillary proceedings before it, meaning the common law principles of legal professional privilege were to be applied. The Court reasoned that disclosure of privileged communications to a legislator performing their functions as such, in the context of the Australian Capital Territory's governmental structure, did not amount to disclosure to a third party or stranger. Consequently, there was no waiver of the privilege by the client, the Australian Capital Territory.

The High Court dismissed the appeal, upholding the decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia that legal professional privilege had not been lost through waiver in the circumstances of the case.