474
Opinion of Breyer, J.
tion may itself contain implicit exceptions. After all, "[t]he privilege derived from the work-product doctrine is not absolute." United States v. Nobles, 422 U. S. 225, 239 (1975); see also 8 C. Wright, A. Miller, & R. Marcus, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2022, p. 324 (2d ed. 1994) (in civil context, work product "is discoverable only on a substantial showing of 'necessity or justification' ") (quoting Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U. S. 495, 510 (1947)); J. Ghent, Development, Since Hickman v. Taylor, of Attorney's "Work Product" Doctrine, 35 A. L. R. 3d 412, 465-469, § 25 (1971) (in civil context, work-product protection is not absolute, but is a "qualified privilege or immunity"). To the extent such a reading permits a defendant to obtain "work product" in an appropriate case (say, with a strong prima facie showing of selective prosecution), the Court's problem does not exist. Of course, to read the work-product exception as containing some such implicit exception itself represents a departure from the Rule's literal language. But, is it not far easier to believe the Rule's authors intended some such small implicit exception to an exception, consistent with the language and purpose of the Rule, than that they intended the very large exception created by the Court?
For another thing, even if one reads the work-product exception literally, the Court's problem disappears as long as courts can supplement Rule 16 discovery with discovery based upon other legal principles. The language of the work-product exception suggests the possibility of such supplementation, for it says, not that work product is "exemp[t]" from discovery, ante, at 462, but that "this rule" does not authorize discovery of the prosecutor's work product. Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 16(a)(2). The Advisory Committee's Notes make clear that the Committee believed that other rules of law may authorize (or require) discovery not mentioned in the Rule. See, e. g., Advisory Committee's Notes on Rule 16, 18 U. S. C. App., pp. 762, 763 (discussion of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U. S. 83 (1963), which the Rule does not cod-
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