Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Inquiries Act 2013

Duties, powers, immunities, and privileges - Immunities and privileges

27: Other immunities and privileges of participants

You could also call this:

"Protections for people taking part in an inquiry, like a court case"

Illustration for Inquiries Act 2013

When you take part in an inquiry as a witness or in some other role, except as a lawyer, you have the same protections as you would in a regular court case. The rules from subpart 8 of Part 2 of the Evidence Act 2006 apply to the inquiry, as if it were a court case and the person running the inquiry were a Judge. You get these protections so you can feel safe to say what you know. If you are a lawyer appearing at an inquiry, you have the same protections as you would if you were in a regular court.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM1566168.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Courts and legal helpGovernment and voting > Government departments
Previous

26: Immunity of inquiry, or

"Being part of an inquiry means you're protected by law from being blamed for things you do or say, unless you do something wrong on purpose."

Next

28: Award of costs, or

"Paying for slowing down an inquiry: when you might have to pay costs"

Part 3Duties, powers, immunities, and privileges
Immunities and privileges

27Other immunities and privileges of participants

  1. Witnesses and other persons participating in an inquiry (other than counsel) have the same immunities and privileges as if they were appearing in civil proceedings and the provisions of subpart 8 of Part 2 of the Evidence Act 2006 apply to the inquiry, to the extent that they are relevant, as if—

  2. the inquiry were a civil proceeding; and
    1. every reference to a Judge were a reference to an inquiry.

      1. Counsel appearing before an inquiry have the same immunities and privileges as they would have if appearing before a court.