Rule 502  Required reports privileged by
statute.  A person, corporation, association, or other organization or
entity, either public or private, making a return or report required by law to
be made has a privilege to refuse to disclose and to prevent any other person
from disclosing the return or report, if the law requiring it to be made so
provides.  A public officer or agency to whom a return or report is required by
law to be made has a privilege to refuse to disclose the return or report if
the law requiring it to be made so provides.  No privilege exists under this
rule in actions involving perjury, false statements, fraud in the return or
report, or other failure to comply with the law in question. [L 1980, c 164, pt
of §1]



 



RULE 502 COMMENTARY



 



  This rule is identical with the U.S. Supreme Court's
proposed Rule 502, see Rules of Evidence for U.S. Courts and Magistrates as
promulgated by the U.S. Supreme Court, 28 App. U.S. Code Service, App. 6
(1975).  A number of Hawaii statutes requiring that reports be made or
information be supplied incorporate provisions against unauthorized disclosure
of such reports or information.  This has the effect of creating a qualified
privilege for the reporting party and for the recipient on the reporting
party's behalf.



  Characteristic of such privilege provisions are those found
in statutes dealing with social services, vital statistics, health, and motor
vehicle safety.  See, e.g., Hawaii Rev. Stat. §346-10 (Supp. 1979), which
provides for confidentiality of records maintained by the Department of Social
Services and Housing; Hawaii Rev. Stat. §334-5 (1976), which provides for
qualified confidentiality of mental health records; Hawaii Rev. Stat. §324-23
(1976), which limits the use in legal proceedings of reports and information
made to the Hawaii Tumor Registry; and Hawaii Rev. Stat. §287-14 (1976), which
establishes a privilege against disclosure of certain motor vehicle accident
reports in civil actions to recover damages.