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Inquiries Act 2013

Sanctions and miscellaneous matters - Miscellaneous matters - Official Information Act 1982 and Public Records Act 2005

32: Application of Official Information Act 1982

You could also call this:

"What happens to inquiry documents under the Official Information Act"

Illustration for Inquiries Act 2013

When you look at documents from an inquiry, they are usually considered official information under the Official Information Act 1982. This happens after the inquiry has finished its report as required by section 12. You can think of official information as documents that the public can ask to see.

Some documents are not considered official information under the Official Information Act 1982. These include matters that have a special order under section 15(1)(a).

Documents that are about what the inquiry members thought and discussed privately are also not official information. This includes documents created by inquiry members or given to the inquiry by its officers.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM1566180.

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"The law that helps courts deal with people who disobey them also applies to inquiries, so the Solicitor-General can take action to help an inquiry work properly."

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33: Application of Public Records Act 2005, or

"Following the Public Records Act 2005 rules when handling inquiry records"

Part 4Sanctions and miscellaneous matters
Miscellaneous matters: Official Information Act 1982 and Public Records Act 2005

32Application of Official Information Act 1982

  1. When an inquiry has reported in accordance with section 12, all documents created by the inquiry or received in the course of the inquiry are, except as set out in subsection (2), official information for the purposes of the Official Information Act 1982.

  2. However, the following are not official information for the purposes of the Official Information Act 1982:

  3. any matter subject to an order under section 15(1)(a):
    1. any documents that relate to the internal deliberations of the inquiry and are—
      1. created by a member of an inquiry in the course of the inquiry; or
        1. provided to the inquiry by an officer of the inquiry.