Chan v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue [2021] NSWCATAD 170

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Chan v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue [2021] NSWCATAD 170 Hearing dates: 15 March 2021; (Final submissions received 7 May 2021) Date of orders: 17 June 2021 Decision date: 17 June 2021 Jurisdiction: Administrative and Equal Opportunity Division Before: S E Frost, Senior Member Decision: The Tribunal makes the following orders: (1) With the exception of the documents or parts of documents listed in Order (2), the documents produced by the Respondent in response to the summons dated 12 January 2021 are privileged documents (NCAT Act, s 67) and the Applicant is denied access to them. (2) The following documents or parts of documents are not privileged: (a) Email 6; (b) The three communications included in Email 10, and comprising the bulk of page 51 of the bundle; (c) Email 11; (d) Email 25; (e) Email 33; (f) Email 36; and (g) The three uppermost communications in each of Emails 45 and 46 (created later than the communication sent on 3 December 2020 at 10:33 AM, and comprising the bulk of pages 179 and 183 respectively of the bundle). The Tribunal also notes that Email 26 is not caught by the summons. (3) The Tribunal allows the Respondent a period of 14 days from the date of publication of these reasons to raise any further grounds of objection with respect to the summons dated 12 January 2021. (4) Unless the Respondent raises any further grounds of objection in accordance with Order (3), then upon the expiry of the 14 day period specified in that Order: (a) The Tribunal grants the Applicant access to the documents or parts of documents specified in paragraphs (a) to (g) of Order (2); (b) To give effect to Order (4)(a), the Respondent is to compile two copies of an additional bundle of documents, each comprising a copy of each of Emails 11 and 36, and a redacted version of each of Emails 10, 45 and 46 (so as to preserve the privileged nature of the remainder of those documents). One copy of this additional bundle is to be provided to the Tribunal for its file, and the second copy is to be provided to the Applicant. (5) The matter is to be listed for further directions at the earliest opportunity, having regard to the matters specified in Orders (3) and (4). (Registry to note: Directions hearing to be conducted by Senior Member Frost if the Respondent raises further grounds of objection in accordance with Order (3); otherwise the matter may be dealt with in the Revenue Directions list.) Catchwords: SUMMONS – client legal privilege claim Legislation Cited: Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW) Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) Cases Cited: None cited Texts Cited: None cited Category: Procedural rulings Parties: Yoke Ping Chan (Applicant) Chief Commissioner of State Revenue (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: O Berkmann (Respondent)