Jarra Creek Central Packing Shed Pty Ltd v Amcor Limited [2006] FCA 1802

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Jarra Creek Central Packing Shed Pty Ltd v Amcor Limited [2006] FCA 1802 DISCOVERY – representative proceeding brought by group who claim to have suffered loss in respect of alleged contraventions of s 45 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) –parallel proceedings in Federal Court instituted by the ACCC in Victorian Registry – appropriate application in this proceeding of discovery protocol negotiated by parties to ACCC proceedings – application for production of documents in "text-searchable" PDF format as opposed to image-based TIFF format – application for discovery of electronic databases in their native electronic format – application for an additional nine fields of "meta-data" to be produced in relation to discoverable documents – advantages of the provision of meta-data in the course of discovery, particularly as to tracing the origin, amendment history and transmission of electronic documents and assisting with de-duplication- principle that Court may limit discovery by restricting it to specific issues or allowing discovery in "waves." Held: Application dismissed – the applicant should examine the substantial number of documents to be provided in the initial discovery and re-apply to the Court as necessary if more information or data (including meta-data) is required in relation to specific hard-copy or electronic documents. Federal Court Rules, O 15 r 3 JARRA CREEK CENTRAL PACKING SHED PTY LTD v AMCOR LIMITED, AMCOR PACKAGING (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, FIBRE CONTAINERS (QUEENSLAND) PTY LIMITED, VISY BOARD PTY LTD, VISY INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS PTY LTD AND VISY INDUSTRIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD 004 337 615 NSD702 OF 2006

TAMBERLIN J

21 DECEMBER 2006

SYDNEY IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

NEW SOUTH WALES DISTRICT REGISTRY NSD702 OF 2006

BETWEEN: JARRA CREEK CENTRAL PACKING SHED PTY LTD ACN 085 691 425