Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Intellectual Disability (Compulsory Care and Rehabilitation) Act 2003

Procedural provisions - Persons entitled to be heard

129: Proceedings not open to public

You could also call this:

"Some court hearings are private, only certain people can attend"

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

When you are in a court hearing under the Intellectual Disability Act, not everyone can be there. You can be there if you are the Judge, an officer of the court, a party to the proceeding, a lawyer, a person entitled to appear at the hearing, or a person nominated by the care recipient. You can also be there if you are a witness or if the Judge says you can be.

If you are a witness, the Judge can ask you to leave the courtroom. The Judge has the power to decide who can be in the courtroom. The court can also use its other powers to hear proceedings in private or to exclude people from the court, this section does not limit those powers. You can find similar information in the 1986 legislation.

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 It might be out of date or be missing some parts.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=DLM225977.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Courts and legal helpRights and equality > Anti-discriminationHealth and wellbeing > Mental health
Previous

128: Power of court to call witnesses, or

"The court can ask someone to be a witness to help make a fair decision in a case about someone with an intellectual disability."

Next

130: Publication of reports of proceedings, or

"Rules for making court case information public"

Part 9Procedural provisions
Persons entitled to be heard

129Proceedings not open to public

  1. No person may be present during a hearing under this Act except the following:

  2. the Judge:
    1. officers of the court:
      1. parties to the proceeding and their lawyers, any person entitled under this Act to appear at the hearing, and any other person nominated by the care recipient:
        1. witnesses:
          1. any other person whom the Judge permits to be present.

            1. A witness must leave the courtroom if asked to do so by the Judge.

            2. Nothing in this section limits any other power of the court to hear proceedings in private or to exclude any person from the court.

            Compare