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Intellectual Disability (Compulsory Care and Rehabilitation) Act 2003

Procedural provisions - Persons entitled to be heard

123: Representation of persons entitled to be heard, and special rights of care recipient

You could also call this:

"Having a say in court: your rights when you need care"

Illustration for Intellectual Disability (Compulsory Care and Rehabilitation) Act 2003

When you are entitled to speak at a court hearing, you can have a lawyer represent you. You can also call people to testify on your behalf and ask questions to people testifying against you. If you are the person receiving care and you are in court, the court will let you speak if you seem able to do so. The court can ask certain people to leave the room while you are speaking, such as your parents, guardian, the person you live with, or their lawyer, if the court thinks that would be a good idea, you can find more information about this by looking at the related legislation.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM225971.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Courts and legal helpRights and equality > Anti-discrimination
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122: Excusing or excluding care recipient, or

"When the court decides it's not safe or fair for someone to be at a hearing"

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124: Appointment by court of lawyer to represent care recipient, or

"The court chooses a lawyer to help you, and pays for it using public money."

Part 9Procedural provisions
Persons entitled to be heard

123Representation of persons entitled to be heard, and special rights of care recipient

  1. Every person who is entitled to appear and be heard at a hearing of an application may be represented by a lawyer, and may call witnesses, and may cross-examine every witness called by another party to the proceeding.

  2. If the care recipient is present and appears capable of addressing the court, the court must give the care recipient an opportunity to do so.

  3. While the care recipient is addressing the court under subsection (2), the court may, if it thinks it desirable to do so, require any of the following persons to withdraw from the court:

  4. a parent of the care recipient:
    1. a guardian of the care recipient:
      1. a person with whom the care recipient is living:
        1. an employee or agent of a service:
          1. a lawyer representing a person referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (d).

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