Re CJC & Anor v Connolly & Ryan

The case of Re CJC & Anor v Connolly & Ryan involved the Criminal Justice Commission (CJC) and the defendants, Peter David Connolly QC and Kevin William Ryan QC, who were appointed as commissioners to examine the role and operations of the CJC. The CJC sought a declaration that certain documents were subject to legal professional privilege. The court had to determine if the documents in question were created solely for the purpose of obtaining legal advice or for use in legal proceedings. After examining the evidence, the court found that most of the documents were indeed created for the purpose of obtaining legal advice and were therefore privileged. However, the telephone charge records were obtained using the CJC's status as an investigator, and not solely for the purpose of obtaining legal advice. As a result, the court ruled that these records were not privileged.

The final orders of the court declared that all the documents described in the affidavit of Mr Pearce, filed on 18 February 1997, except the telephone charge records, were subject to legal professional privilege.