On an appeal concerning a disciplinary investigator’s demand for an insurer’s claim file, the Court considered whether a statutory obligation to produce “any document” abrogates litigation privilege.
The Court held that litigation privilege is a class privilege distinct from solicitor-client privilege but fundamental to the administration of justice and the adversarial process.
It ruled that the privilege may be lifted only by clear, explicit and unequivocal legislative language, not by inference from a general production clause.
Because the governing provision lacked sufficiently specific wording, the insurer was entitled to withhold documents protected by litigation privilege.
The appeal was dismissed with costs.
