Whilst the rules applicable to discovery in the High Court
regulate both documents open to full inspection and privileged
documents, they are silent on confidential documents. The
overriding yardstick for discovery is relevance. All relevant
documents, even if they are confidential, must be discovered, save
for privileged documents which are protected from disclosure.
This does not mean that our law affords no protection to a party
required to discover confidential documents. Confidential
information in this context means information with intrinsic
economic value which can be applied in trade or business and
therefore has some form of financial value to the proprietor
thereof.
The judgement almost 30 years ago, Crown Cork & Seal Co
Inc and Another v Rheem South Africa (Pty) Ltd and Others
1980(3) 1093 (W), laid down useful and sensible principles to
regulate the discovery of confidential documents. The principles
serve to protect both the rights of the party
