Section 28 Discovery.C1

United Kingdom

(1)

Subject to and in accordance with rules of court F1...:—

(a)

in any civil proceedings in the High Court or F2the county court to which the Crown is a party, the Crown may be required by the court to make discovery of documents and produce documents for inspection; and

(b)

in any such proceedings as aforesaid, the Crown may be required by the court to answer interrogatories:

Provided that this section shall be without prejudice to any rule of law which authorises or requires the withholding of any document or the refusal to answer any question on the ground that the disclosure of the document or the answering of the question would be injurious to the public interest.

Any order of the court made under the powers conferred by paragraph (b) of this subsection shall direct by what officer of the Crown the interrogatories are to be answered.

(2)

Without prejudice to the proviso to the preceding subsection, any rules made for the purposes of this section shall be such as to secure that the existence of a document will not be disclosed if, in the opinion of a Minister of the Crown, it would be injurious to the public interest to disclose the existence thereof.

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1: Words in s. 28(1) repealed (1.10.2005) by The Civil Procedure (Modification of Crown Proceedings Act 1947) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/2712), art. 2, Sch. 1 para. 1 (with art. 4)
F2: Words in Act substituted (22.4.2014) by Crime and Courts Act 2013 (c. 22), s. 61(3), Sch. 9 para. 20(a); S.I. 2014/954, art. 2(c) (with art. 3) (with transitional provisions and savings in S.I. 2014/956, arts. 3-11)

Modifications

C1: Ss. 21-42 excluded (S.) (18.4.2016) by The Utilities Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2016 (S.S.I. 2016/49), regs. 1, 103(8)

Notes on Part IV

Modifications

C1: Part IV applied by Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (c. 65), s. 85(8) and Race Relations Act 1976 (c. 74), s. 75(6)
C2: Pt. IV (ss. 28-40) applied (2.12.1996) by 1995 c. 50, ss. 64(3), 70(6), Sch. 8 para. 44(1) (with ss. 59, 64, 65); S.I. 1996/1474, art. 2(3); S.R. 1996/280, art. 2(2), Sch.
C3: Pt. IV (ss. 28-40) applied (with modifications) (1.3.1999) by S.I. 1998/3162 (N.I. 21), art. 92; S.R. 1999/81, art. 3
C4: Pt. IV (ss. 28-40) applied (with modifications) (30.6.1997) by S.I. 1997/869, art. 71(6); S.R. 1997/273, art. 2(2)
C5: Pts. 2-4 applied in part (E.W.S.) (1.12.2003) by The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/1661), reg. 36(5)
C6: Pts. 2-4 applied in part (E.W.S.) (2.12.2003) by The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/1660), reg. 36(5)
C7: Pts. 2-4 applied in part (N.I) (1.9.2005) by The Special Educational Needs and Disability (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/1117), arts. 1, 47(2); S.R. 2005/336), {art. 2}, Sch.; S.R. 2005/337, art. 2, Sch.
C8: Pts. 2-4 applied (1.10.2006) by The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/1031), reg. 44(6) (with regs. 44(1)-(5), 45
C9: Pts. II-IV applied (N.I.) (1.10.2006) by The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (S.R. 2006/261), reg. 50(6)
C10: Pts. II-IV applied (N.I) (1.1.2007) by The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (S.R. 2006/439), reg. 53(6)
C11: Pts. 2-4 applied (30.4.2007) by Equality Act 2006 (c. 3), ss. 78(4), 93 (with s. 92); S.I. 2007/1092, art. 2
C12: Pts. 2-4 applied in part (30.4.2007) by The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 (S.I. 2007/1263), reg. 33(4) (with regs. 12, 13, 18, 33(2)(3))
C13: Pts. 2-4 applied (E.W.S.) (8.4.2010) by Equality Act 2010 (c. 15), ss. 205(6), 216(1)(b)