New Zealand Police v Ormsby-Turner - [2025] 2 NZLR 246

Criminal Procedure — Use of documents received during criminal proceedings — Whether implied undertaking not to provide documents for investigation purposes — No implied undertaking — No authority in support — No analogy with discovery in civil proceedings — High public interest in disclosure in criminal context — No need to avoid litigation being brought as a collateral attack — Privacy Act s 22 and p 11(1)(e)(i).

Exercise of inherent court jurisdiction — Whether jurisdiction to prevent Crown Solicitor from providing documents — Insufficient public interest in investigating the offending — Decision to prosecute offending belongs to executive branch of government — Courts must observe constitutional boundaries — Public interest in Police having evidence — Public interest in courts having reliable information for sentencing — Not the role of courts to supervise merits of investigation or prosecution — Privacy interests must yield to detection, investigation, prosecution and punishment of offences — Confidentiality pierced when statements filed in Court — No chilling effect of granting access — Senior Courts (Access to Court Documents) Rules 2017.