defendant police seeking there be no access to search warrant application to extent subject to public interest immunity and/or relates to matters of state &ndash
balancing exercise between public interest in withholding information to protect investigation of crime and public interest in ensuring access to relevant evidence &ndash
Quick Take
1Where a party challenges the validity of a search warrant and seeks access to the unredacted warrant application, the court must undertake a passage-by-passage balancing exercise weighing the public interest in protecting ongoing investigations against the public interest in the challenger having access to relevant evidence, rather than granting blanket non-access
2The balancing exercise is rationally informed by whether unredacted material already available would, on its face, appear to demonstrate reasonable grounds for the warrant's issue in respect of at least one searchable offence, as this reduces the forensic utility of redacted material given the indivisible nature of a warrant invalidity challenge
3Where full disclosure of redacted material is refused on public interest immunity grounds but a potentially significant arguable point exists for the applicant, the court may direct the party claiming immunity to provide a summary or 'gist' of the protected material sufficient to enable meaningful engagement without compromising the investigation
