Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring:

It should be clear that this is the extent to which access is possible. Whether it is appropriate, proportionate or relevant must be something that can be relied upon on a case-by-case basis.

If we want to look at legal advice, we would have to make the argument for why we consider it relevant and proportionate. However, the danger is that if somebody does not want to hand over documentation, a decision might be made to deposit it with the legal section and claim legal privilege. In such circumstances, we might be able to litigate it through the courts and, for instance, a judge might look at it independently and decide it is important to our investigation. However, there will be costs and delays in that process. I am not saying that including such a provision in legislation would mean we would use it in every instance, but it would avoid the resting of documentation that could be relevant in a legal section.