K.C. Vijayan reports:
The High Court has ruled in a novel case that confidential documents hacked from a computer and posted online remain confidential despite being in the public domain.
The court found in the test case that e-mails between lawyer and client leaked online by a third party but obtained by the defence was privileged information and could not be used as defence documents.
“Considering the circumstances surrounding the massive information leak and how the defendant came to be in possession of the e-mails, as well as the nature of the information within the e-mails, it seemed to me that an obligation of confidentiality could still be justly and reasonably imposed on the defendant in respect of the e-mails,” wrote Judicial Commissioner Hoo Sheau Peng in judgment grounds released yesterday.