State of NSW v Biber [2021] NSWSC 47

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: State of NSW v Biber [2021] NSWSC 47 Hearing dates: 3 February 2021 Decision date: 03 February 2021 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Button J Decision: (1) Notice of motion of the Commissioner for Corrective Services of 19 January 2021 dismissed. (2) The Commissioner of the Corrective Services for New South Wales must pay the defendant's costs pursuant to s 42 of the Legal Aid Commission Act 1979 NSW. Catchwords: EVIDENCE – public interest immunity – application for ESO against defendant – whether contents of committee meeting minutes should be disclosed to defendant – committee had recommended to Attorney-General that no ESO be sought – probative value of meeting minutes – risk of injury to public administration – claim for public interest immunity refused Legislation Cited: Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006 (NSW) pt 4A, ss 10C(2), 25(1) Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) ss 130, 131A(2) Cases Cited: Alister v The Queen [1984] HCA 85; (1984) 154 CLR 404 Sankey v Whitlam [1978] HCA 43; (1978) 142 CLR 1 State of NSW v Biber [2020] NSWSC 1656 Texts Cited: J D Heydon, Cross on Evidence, 11th Australian edition (2017) LexisNexis Category: Procedural rulings Parties: State of New South Wales (Plaintiff) Andrew Biber (Defendant) Commissioner of Corrective Services (Third party) Representation: Counsel: S Climo (Plaintiff) A Hughes (Defendant) T Glover (Third party)