Preliminary Paper No 23 EVIDENCE LAW: PRIVILEGE a Discussion Paper
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Preliminary Paper No 23 EVIDENCE LAW: PRIVILEGE A discussion paper 2 Preliminary Paper No 23 EVIDENCE LAW: PRIVILEGE A discussion paper May 1994 Wellington, New Zealand The Law Commission welcomes your comments on this paper and seeks your response to the questions raised. These should be forwarded to: The Director, Law Commission, PO Box 2590, DX 8434, Wellington by Thursday, 1 September 1994 The Law Commission is an independent, publicly funded, central advisory body established by statute to undertake the systematic review, reform and development of the law of New Zealand. Its aim is to help achieve coherent and accessible laws that reflect the heritage and aspirations of New Zealand society. The Commissioners are: Sir Kenneth Keith KBE - President The Hon Justice Wallace The Hon Justice Blanchard Professor Richard Sutton Leslie H Atkins QC Joanne R Morris OBE The Director of the Law Commission is Alison Quentin-Baxter QSO. The offices of the Law Commission are at 89 The Terrace, Wellington. Postal address: PO Box 2590, DX 8434, Wellington, New Zealand. Telephone: (04) 473 3453. Facsimile: (04) 471 0959. Use of submissions The Law Commission's processes are essentially public, and it is subject to the Official Information Act 1982. Thus copies of submissions made to the Commission will normally be made available on request, and the Commission may mention submissions in its reports. Any request for the withholding of information on the grounds of confidentiality or for any other reason will be determined in accordance with the Official Information Act. Preliminary Paper/Law Commission Wellington 1994 ISSN 00113-2245 This preliminary paper may be cited as: NZLC PP23 Summary of Contents Page Preface xi I INTRODUCTION 1 General review II PRIVILEGES ASSOCIATED WITH LEGAL ADVICE OR LITIGATION 17 Introduction 19 Legal professional advisers: current or contemplated litigation 22 Legal professional advisers: other preparations for litigation 35 Legal professional advisers: litigation not contemplated 53 Legal professional advisers: limitations on claiming privilege 66 Settlement negotiations: statements made "without prejudice" 78 III PRIVILEGES ASSOCIATED WITH PARTICULAR CONFIDENTIAL RELATIONSHIPS 87 Introduction 89 Married persons: privilege and compellability 92 Religious and spiritual advisers 107 Doctors and psychologists 114 Informers 124 Journalists 132 IV PRIVILEGES OF GENERAL APPLICATION 141 Introduction 143 Confidential relationships The Crown 169 Draft privilege and compellability sections for an evidence code 188 Summary of questions 235 Appendices 241 Bibliography 261 Contents Page Para Preface xi PART I INTRODUCTION 1 1 General review The scope of the law of privilege When is a privilege justified? Giving effect to a privilege in court proceedings Giving effect to a privilege in other situations Conclusion PART II PRIVILEGES ASSOCIATED WITH LEGAL ADVICE OR LITIGATION 17 2 Introduction Legal professional privilege Settlement negotiations 3 Legal professional advisers: current or contemplated litigation 22 45 The justification for the privilege Requirements for asserting the privilege Which advisers may receive protected communications? 27 63 Which clients may make protected communications? 4 Legal professional advisers: other preparations for litigation 35 83 The justification for the privilege Options for reform Requirements for invoking the privilege Two related privileges 51 128 Page Para 5 Legal professional advisers: litigation not contemplated The justification for the privilege Law reform proposals Requirements for a qualified privilege Which advisers may receive protected communications? 6 Legal professional advisers: limitations on claiming privilege 66 Waiver Material acquired by another person Joint and successive interests The furtherance of a criminal or unlawful act Information relevant to the defence of an accused 7 Settlement negotiations: statements made "without prejudice" 78 195 The justification for the rule The nature of the protection The extent of the privilege How the privilege is to be invoked PART III PRIVILEGES ASSOCIATED WITH PARTICULAR CONFIDENTIAL RELATIONSHIPS 87 8 Introduction 9 Married persons: privilege and compellability 92 221 The justification for protection 93 The scope of protection 96 235 The privilege for communications between spouses 98 242 Non-compellability in criminal cases 10 Religious and spiritual advisers 107 The justification for the privilege Defining the privilege Page Para 11 Doctors and psychologists The justification for the privilege Civil proceedings Criminal proceedings 12 Informers 124 The form of protection Who is an informer? The requirements for protection Exceptions 13 Journalists 132 Justification of a claim to privilege The present law Options for reform PART IV PRIVILEGES OF GENERAL APPLICATION 141 14 Introduction Private and public claims for protection 144 The case for discretionary protection 146 15 Confidential relationships What should be protected? The present law Legal requirements for protection 16 The Crown 169 What should be protected? Legal requirements for protection Challenging a government claim for secrecy 182 453 Draft privilege and compellability sections for an evidence code 188 Summary of questions 235 Page Appendices: A Draft structure for an evidence code 241 B Draft early sections for an evidence code 245 C Existing statutory provisions 247 D Extracts from Australian Evidence Bill 1993253 Bibliography 261 Preface The Law Commission's evidence reference is succinct and yet comprehensive: Purpose: To make the law of evidence as clear, simple and accessible as is practicable, and to facilitate the fair, just and speedy judicial resolution of disputes. With this purpose in mind the Law Commission is asked to examine the statutory and common law governing evidence in proceedings before courts and tribunals and make recommendations for its reform with a view to codification. The evidence reference needs to be read together with the criminal procedure reference, the purpose of which is: To devise a system of criminal procedure for New Zealand that will ensure the fair trial of persons accused of offences, protect the rights and freedoms of all persons suspected or accused of offences, and provide effective and efficient procedures for the investigation and prosecution of offences and the hearing of criminal cases. Both references were given to the Law Commission by the Minister of Justice in August 1989, shortly after the Commission published a preliminary paper on options for the reform of hearsay. This is the seventh in a series of Law Commission discussion papers on aspects of evidence law. Papers on principles for the reform of evidence law, codification of evidence law, hearsay evidence, and expert and opinion evidence were published in 1991. The Commission has also published Criminal Evidence: Police Questioning, a major discussion paper jointly under the evidence and criminal procedure references. Further papers dealing with topics such as evidence of character and credibility, and competence and vulnerable witnesses will be published as the reference progresses. In preparing this paper the Law Commission consulted with a wide range of people. At an early stage, the Commission held seminars in conjunction with Bell Gully Buddle Weir and Russell McVeagh McKenzie Bartleet at the offices of Bell Gully Buddle Weir, which focused on directions for reforming privilege law. The Commission would like to thank Chris Finlayson, Les Taylor, Stephen Kos and Terry Sissons for speaking at the seminars. The Commission received helpful comments on a draft of this paper from members of the legal profession, members of various professional associations and bodies, legal academics, and representatives from some Churches and community agencies. The Commission also consulted with the Law Reform Division of the Department of Justice and the New Zealand Police. We would like in particular to acknowledge the valuable assistance of Dr D L Mathieson QC, Ms D Buckingham, and Mr R M Mahoney who provided detailed comments on various drafts of the paper. In addition, the Commission was assisted by an advisory committee, comprising the Hon Sir John Jeffries, Judge J D Rabone, Dr R S Chambers QC and Mr S B W Grieve. The draft code provisions were 12 prepared by Mr G C Thornton QC, legislative counsel. This paper does more than discuss the issues and pose questions for consideration. It includes the Commission's provisional conclusions following extensive research and considerable preliminary consultation. It also includes a complete draft of the privilege provisions for a code and a commentary on them. The intention is to enable detailed and practical considerations of our proposals. We emphasise that we are not committed to the views indicated and our provisional conclusions should not be taken as precluding further consideration of the issues. Submissions or comments on this paper should be sent to the Director, Law Commission, P O Box 2590, Wellington, if possible, by Thursday 1 September 1994. Any initial inquiries or informal comments can be directed to Sachin Zodgekar (0-4-473 3453). PART I INTRODUCTION 2 1 General review Normally courts can compel disclosure of any information, whether confidential or not. When should a witness have a "privilege" not to testify about secret matters? What arguments can be made for privileges? Do they apply equally to the disclosure of information which the state requires from its citizens? THE SCOPE OF THE LAW OF PRIVILEGE