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Serious Fraud Office Act 1990

Miscellaneous provisions - Provisions relating to Public Service Act 2020 and other matters

35: Indemnity

You could also call this:

"Protection for the Serious Fraud Office from costs when doing its job"

Illustration for Serious Fraud Office Act 1990

The Serious Fraud Office and its members are protected by the Crown. This means the Crown will help pay for any problems that happen when the Office is doing its job, unless they are doing something wrong on purpose. You are protected if you work for the Serious Fraud Office and you are doing your job properly. The Crown will pay for any money needed to help the Serious Fraud Office with these problems. This money will come from a special Crown bank account and will be shown in the Office's financial statements. The protection also includes help with legal costs if someone takes the Office to court. If the Office does not do something it should have done, it is still protected, but this does not affect what is said in section 49. This protection does not change or affect what is said in the Crown Proceedings Act 1950 or the Crimes Act 1961 about when the Crown is liable or what is a good excuse.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM211470.

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34: Exercise of powers by outside investigators, or

"Outside investigators can help the Serious Fraud Office with their powers."

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36: Secrecy of certain information relating to Serious Fraud Office business, or

"Keeping Serious Fraud Office secrets"

Part 4Miscellaneous provisions
Provisions relating to Public Service Act 2020 and other matters

35Indemnity

  1. The Serious Fraud Office and every member of the Serious Fraud Office shall be indemnified by the Crown in respect of any liability relating to the exercise of, or purported exercise of, or the omission to exercise, any power conferred by this Act unless it is shown that the exercise or purported exercise of, or the omission to exercise, the power was in bad faith.

  2. Any money required for the purposes of this section—

  3. shall be paid out of a Crown Bank Account without further appropriation than this section; and
    1. shall be shown as a separate item in the annual financial statements of the Serious Fraud Office.

      1. The indemnity conferred by subsection (1) extends to legal costs incurred in defending a proceeding.

      2. No reference in this section to a liability relating to any omission to exercise any power shall limit the provisions of section 49.

      3. Nothing in this section shall limit or affect any provision of the Crown Proceedings Act 1950 or the Crimes Act 1961 relating to the liability of the Crown or to matters of justification or excuse.

      Compare
      Notes
      • Section 35(2)(a): amended, on , pursuant to section 65R(3) of the Public Finance Act 1989 (1989 No 44).