Peters and Giannopoulos & Ors (No. 2)

In the matter of Peters and Giannopoulos & Ors (No. 2), Berman J of the Family Court of Australia considered a dispute concerning the production of documents in family law property proceedings. The wife sought the production of documents in an unredacted form, which had previously been provided in a redacted version. The central issue was the relevance of these documents to the proceedings.

The court was required to determine whether the redacted documents, when considered as a whole, were sufficiently relevant to warrant their unredacted production. Furthermore, the court needed to ascertain the appropriate mechanism for assessing the relevance of the documents, particularly in relation to the husband's loan account as detailed in financial statements and tax returns for R Trust and Giannopoulos Family Trust.

Berman J reasoned that a single expert valuer, a suitably qualified accountant, should be appointed by the Court to assist in determining the relevance of the documents. This expert would examine the unredacted documents and advise the Court, but not the parties, on which parts were necessary for the clear understanding of the husband's loan account status. The court ordered the second and third respondents to provide the documents in their unredacted form to the Court, and that they, along with the wife, agree on the identity of the expert. The cost of this expert was to be borne by the second and third respondents. The court also extended the time for the wife to comply with a previous order.