A client requested copies of two letters he had provided to his solicitor for court proceedings. The solicitor refused the request because the client had not paid his bill. He claimed a solicitor's lien over the file. Lawyers assert this lien by refusing to hand over a client's file until their bill has been paid.

Information privacy principle 6 entitles individuals to have access to personal information about themselves held by an agency. This requirement is subject to a limited number of reasons to refuse access, found in Part IV of the Privacy Act. Failure to pay an account is not one of those reasons.

I considered whether section 7 of the Act had any application to the complaint. Section 7 says that other statutes which prescribe how personal information is to be dealt with take precedence over the information privacy principles. This includes statutes that impose a prohibition or restriction on the availability of personal information. However, in New Zealand the right of a solicitor to claim a lien over a document or file is derived from the common law, not statute.

Section 66(2)(a)(i) provides that a refusal to make information available when there is no proper basis for that decision, constitutes an interference with privacy. I formed the opinion that the solicitor's refusal to provide copies of the letters was an interference with his client's privacy.

After being informed of my opinion the solicitor agreed to make the letters available.

April 1997

Indexing terms: Access to personal information - Solicitor - Refusal of access because of unpaid fees - Solicitor's lien - Privacy Act 1993, s 7 - Information privacy principle 6