AFP raid on CFMEU offices was legal

An AFP raid on the CFMEU Brisbane headquarters in November 2015 was legal, the Federal Court has ruled.

The Queensland and Northern Territory branch of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) in Brisbane, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015. Source: AAP

The CFMEU has lost the fight to get back thousands of emails and documents seized by federal police from its Brisbane headquarters last year.

Dozens of officers from the trade union royal commission's special taskforce were reportedly looking for evidence of document destruction when they raided the Bowen Hills office in November.

The AFP were unable to inspect the seized material after the CFMEU obtained a Federal Court injunction after arguing the raid was unlawful.

On Friday, Justice John Reeves ruled the raid was legal but kept the injunction in place until documents, protected by legal privilege, were removed.

How the sorting process will be carried out and who will pay for the legal battle will be argued in the same court on August 4.