What is the basis for a husband seeking to introduce into evidence a birthday card sent by the wife to a friend shortly after the wife allegedly removed her children from Australia?

The Applicant relies on three decisions. The first is Mathews v. Mathews[13] in which, during a trial, the husband sought to introduce into evidence a letter contained on a birthday card sent by the wife to her friend shortly after the wife allegedly wrongfully removed the children from Australia. He also relied on entries in a journal the wife kept and which the husband found and copied. The trial judge found that the documents were relevant to a central issue. The trial judge also found that the husband had violated the wife’s privacy but his conduct was found to be “a single act done in the throes of what was from his point of view at least, an inexplicable breakdown of his marriage”. He held that the material had significant probative value.

The second is the decision in McDermott v. McDermott[14] in which, during a trial, the husband brought a motion for production of documents over which the wife claimed solicitor and client privilege. After the trial commenced, the husband learned of email correspondence from the wife to her sister where she disclosed a plan to be undertaken by her lawyer to delay the trial by losing an application and then launching an appeal. The trial judge found that the emails were not protected by privilege because they met the future crimes exception. He found the emails to have significant probative value.