Raghib v Stantec Australia Pty Ltd (Return of subpoena)

[2026] FCA 1322

Federal Court of Australia

Built by Barristers,
For Australian Law.

1. Practice and Procedure
1. return of subpoena
1. where the applicant caused subpoenas to be issued to a non-party to produce a document
1. where the addressee of the subpoenas and the first respondent objected to inspection of the document by the applicant on grounds of legal professional privilege and confidentiality

Before a subpoena is called upon, the issuing party may be required to justify the legitimate forensic purpose of the subpoenaed documents; a subpoena not issued for a legitimate forensic purpose may be characterised as an abuse of process.
A party seeking production must demonstrate that the documents have 'apparent relevance' to an identified issue in the proceeding — it is not sufficient that the party wishes to obtain documents to see whether they may assist their case.
The court may address the threshold question of legitimate forensic purpose before permitting a subpoena to be called on, exercising powers under s 37P of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth) and the court's implied power to control its own processes, to avoid unnecessary cost and disruption from premature argument on privilege or confidentiality objections.