Obligation To Disclose Emails Simply A Matter Of Agency Law

Fairstar Heavy Transport NV v Adkins and Claranet Limited [2013] EWCA Civ 886

Mr Adkins had been Fairstar's chief executive officer, but not an employee. Emails sent to Mr Adkins at Fairstar were automatically forwarded to Mr Adkins' private email address and deleted from the server. Emails sent by him from home were not copied to Fairstar. Fairstar was taken over following a hostile bid and wished to have access to the emails received and sent by Mr Adkins.

Because the relevant contract provided that the Dutch courts would have exclusive jurisdiction, Fairstar confined its claim in the High Court to a proprietary claim in the content of the emails. The High Court held that there was no proprietary right in the content of information, so it declined to make an order for delivery up of the emails. The decision was reported in Bulletin 91 covering October 2012.

The Court of Appeal allowed Fairstar's appeal and ordered disclosure. The preliminary issue decided by the judge (i.e. whether there was a property right in information contained in emails) was an unnecessary complication. The right to inspect and copy the content of emails on Mr Adkin's computer rose from an agency relationship that survived its...