New South Wales Bar Association v Archer

The New South Wales Bar Association brought an application against Archer regarding the production of documents to a tribunal. The dispute arose from a summons issued on 10 November 2003, where Archer was required to produce specific documents to the tribunal. Archer applied to set aside these summonses, which the Bar Association opposed. The legal issues before the court included whether clauses 1.6 and 1.8 of the summons should be deleted, whether the summonses should be set aside, and how access to the documents produced should be managed.

The court found that clauses 1.6 and 1.8 of the summons should be deleted as they were not necessary for the tribunal's purposes. The court dismissed Archer's application to set aside the summonses, except for the specified clauses. The court granted Archer first access to the documents produced in response to the summonses to the third parties, allowing them to copy the documents within 48 hours. The informant was granted subsequent access, barring any objections from Archer. The court also directed that the documents listed in the summons should be produced within seven days, with access granted to the informant, subject to any objections raised by Archer. The court reserved costs for the application.

The final orders of the court were that clauses 1.6 and 1.8 be deleted from the summons, that Archer's application to set aside the summonses be dismissed except for the specified clauses, that Archer be granted first access to the documents, and that the documents be produced within seven days. Objections to document access were to be listed for a hearing, and costs were reserved.