In Stokoe Partnership Solicitors v Robinson and anr, the High Court (William Davis J) considered when and if a person providing disclosure pursuant to a Norwich Pharmacal order should be cross-examined on that information. The Court held that cross-examination merely to identify an ultimate wrongdoer should only be ordered in exceptional circumstances. In particular, the Court considered that cases where digital or documentary material was at odds with the disclosure would be more appropriate for cross-examination, but applications intended only to identify a wrongdoer so as to allow proceedings to be brought would be less appropriate. The Court considered that contradictory information obtained pursuant to the Norwich Pharmacal jurisdiction was itself insufficient and rejected the applications against both Respondents.
Edward Brown, instructed by Stefano Ruis of Hickman & Rose, acted for the First Respondent.
The Judgment is available here.
