A decision on whether taxpayers will fork out for ACC Minister Judith Collins' defamation case against two Labour MPs and Radio New Zealand could be made this week.
Cabinet ministers will meet today, and they are expected to approve seeking a legal opinion on the merits of the case, before a decision is made on whether to fund it.
Ms Collins on Thursday served letters on Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little, as well as Radio New Zealand, over allegations she leaked a confidential email to the media, amidst the ongoing scandal over a major privacy breach by ACC.
The email contained information about ACC claimant Bronwyn Pullar, the woman at the centre of the row that led to the resignation of cabinet minister Nick Smith last month.
Only four people had access to the email - Ms Collins, a member of her staff, ACC board chairman John Judge and chief executive Ralph Stewart.
Prime Minister John Key has backed Ms Collins' legal action, and says she is within her rights to ask for crown funding for the case.
"The cabinet manual's quite clear that a minister can ask cabinet to consider that matter so let's see how it goes," he told TVNZ's Breakfast.
Mr Key said he was not sure whether a decision would be made by cabinet on today.
While there have been previous instances of ministers using crown funding to defend defamation cases, it was not clear whether such funding had ever been used in a case where a minister was the plaintiff.
The next steps:
* Attorney-General Chris Finlayson will ask cabinet to agree that either Solicitor-General David Collins or private counsel will investigate Ms Collins' claim, and provide an opinion on its merits.
* Mr Finlayson may seek cabinet's authorisation for Ms Collins to pursue the claim at the Crown's expense.
* If Ms Collins wins a court case, any costs or damages awarded will be paid to the Crown.
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