Electricity Industry Act 2010

Electricity industry governance - Monitoring and enforcement - Authority's powers and procedures

48: Privileges protected

You could also call this:

"The law keeps conversations with your lawyer private and protects you from self-incrimination"

The law protects your right to legal professional privilege. This means that if you have conversations with your lawyer, those conversations remain private.

When the Authority asks you to provide information or answer questions as mentioned in section 46, you must do so even if it might get you in trouble. This applies to you, your employees, and your officers if you're part of the electricity industry.

However, if you're an individual and you say something that could get you in trouble, or if your employees or officers do, that information can't be used against you in court. This applies to both criminal and civil cases.

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This page was last updated on 22 April 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3019726.

Topics:

Crime and justice > Courts and legal helpRights and equality > Privacy

47B: Authority may impose conditions on provision of information or documents, or

"Rules for sharing information with other groups to keep your details safe"

49: Authority may suspend trading in case of insolvency, or

"Authority can pause trading if a company is in financial trouble"

Part 2Electricity industry governance
Monitoring and enforcement: Authority's powers and procedures

48Privileges protected

Nothing in section 46 limits any claim for legal professional privilege.
If the Authority requires an industry participant or a specified person to do anything referred to in section 46, the participant or specified person (as the case may be), and any officer or employee of the participant or specified person, is not excused from answering a question or giving any information or document on the ground that to do so may incriminate or tend to incriminate the participant or the specified person, or the officer or employee.
However, any self-incriminating statement or document made or given by an officer or employee, or an industry participant or a specified person that is an individual, is not admissible as evidence in any criminal or civil proceedings against that person.

Compare

1992 No 122 s 172KC

Notes

Section 48(2): replaced, on 30 March 2025, by section 59(1) of the Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 11).
Section 48(3): amended, on 30 March 2025, by section 59(2) of the Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 11).