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Parole Act 2002

Parole and other release from detention - Release - General provisions

13AB: Making of confidentiality order

You could also call this:

"Keeping some information secret to keep people safe"

Illustration for Parole Act 2002

The chairperson or a panel convenor can make a confidentiality order if they think the information is relevant to a current matter about an offender. They must also think that sharing the information could put someone in danger or affect the maintenance of the law. You need to know that the order will say what information must be kept secret. The order can stop people from sharing the information with others, except for certain officials who need to know to do their job, and it can also stop people from sharing details that might identify the person who gave the information.

The order can also say that the information must be given to the Board members in private. To avoid doubt, anything that is secret under the order cannot be shared with the offender or their lawyer. The person who makes the confidentiality order must give the order and the secret information to the Board members who will make a decision about the offender. In this case, a current matter is something about the offender that the Board is dealing with or will deal with, as explained in section 13AC.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM138462.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal lawCrime and justice > Courts and legal help
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13AA: Application for confidentiality order, or

"Asking to Keep Information Secret: How to Apply for a Confidentiality Order"

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13AC: Effect of confidentiality order, or

"What happens if you break a secrecy order"

Part 1Parole and other release from detention
Release: General provisions

13ABMaking of confidentiality order

  1. The chairperson or a panel convenor may make a confidentiality order if satisfied—

  2. that the information for which confidentiality is sought is relevant to a current matter concerning an offender; and
    1. that disclosure of the information may—
      1. endanger the safety of the person who is the source of the information or of any other person; or
        1. prejudice the maintenance of the law, including the prevention, investigation, and detection of offences, and the right to a fair trial.

        2. The order must identify the information that is to be kept confidential, and may do so by reference to 1 or more documents.

        3. The order may—

        4. forbid the disclosure or publication of the information to any person other than—
          1. the members of the Board involved in considering and determining the current matter; and
            1. any officials specified in the order by name or position, being officials who require access to the information to perform their functions in relation to the Board's determination of the current matter or the implementation of that determination:
            2. forbid the disclosure or publication (other than to the persons mentioned in paragraph (a)) of any particulars that identify, or may lead to the identification of, any person who is the source of the information:
              1. require the members of the Board involved in considering and determining the current matter to receive the information in the absence of any person other than—
                1. any officials who are permitted access to the information under paragraph (a)(ii) and whose presence the members consider necessary; and
                  1. if the members receive the oral evidence of the person who is the source of the information, that person.

                  2. To avoid doubt, anything that may not be disclosed or published under a confidentiality order may not be disclosed—

                  3. to the offender; or
                    1. to the offender's counsel or other representative of the offender.

                      1. The chairperson or the panel convenor who makes the confidentiality order must give the order and the information to which it relates to the members of the Board who will determine the current matter.

                      2. In this section and in section 13AC, current matter, in relation to an offender, means a matter concerning the offender that is before the Board or is expected to come before the Board.

                      Notes
                      • Section 13AB: inserted, on , by section 9 of the Parole Amendment Act 2007 (2007 No 28).