Yufeng MAO & Ors v Commonwealth of Australia & Anor [2012] NSWSC 370

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Yufeng MAO & Ors v Commonwealth of Australia & Anor [2012] NSWSC 370 Hearing dates: 13 April 2012 Decision date: 13 April 2012 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Beech-Jones J Decision: 1. The Commissioner of Police be excused from producing a fully unredacted page 8 and pages 9-24 of the document entitled "New South Wales Protection Group Basic Guidelines For Police Negotiations". 2. The Commissioner of Police produce a fully unredacted portion of the documents entitled "Negotiation Incident Form". 3. Until further order, access to the fully unredacted version of the document entitled "Negotiation Incident Form" be restricted to the Plaintiffs' counsel and solicitors only. 4. That the "closed" affidavit of Assistant Commissioner Clarke sworn 13 April 2012 and the exhibit thereto be returned to the Commissioner. 5. Orders 2 and 3 be stayed for 21 days. 6. There be no order as to the costs of the Commissioner's notice of motion filed 12 April 2012. Catchwords: PUBLIC INTEREST IMMUNITY - s 130(1) Evidence Act - Balancing test - Police Guidelines for Negotiation - Negotiation Incident Form Legislation Cited: Evidence Act 1995 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 Cases Cited: Alister v The Queen (1983-1984) 154 CLR 404 at 412 B v N (1994) 35 NSWLR 140 Category: Interlocutory applications Parties: Yufeng Mao (First Plaintiff/Respondent on the motion) Yujie Bai (Second Plaintiff/Respondent on the motion) The Commissioner of Police (Applicant on the motion) Representation: Counsel: Ms M Tibbey (Plaintiffs/Respondent on the motion) Mr P Guterres (The Commissioner of Police/Applicant on the motion) Solicitors: Legal Aid NSW (Plaintiffs) Crown Solicitor (The Commissioner of Police) File Number(s): 2009/297553