SCENIC CIRCLE HOTEL GROUP LTD V WEST COAST REGIONAL COUNCIL & ANOR (HC)

Heaney & Partners act for the Westland District Council. We successfully resisted an application by Stuff for access to the documents held on the court file on the basis that release of the documents would be premature and potentially injurious to the proceeding as a whole.

Stuff stated that the purpose of access was to allow Stuff to write a “full and balanced report on the proceedings which are in the public interest.” However the only documents on the file were the statement of claim and notice of proceeding.  The court accepted our argument that it is unfair to publish only one side of the story and that it may result in an unbalanced perspective of the parties’ positions when no statements of defence have been filed.