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Maritime Transport Act 1994

Protection of marine environment from ballast water

246E: Director's powers

You could also call this:

"The Director's job is to investigate and gather information about ballast water incidents"

The Director can investigate when ballast water is discharged or escapes. You might be asked questions if the Director thinks you have information that can help find out what happened. The Director can also ask you to give evidence, produce documents, or let them take a document for a while.

The Director has the power to stop people from going to the site where the discharge or escape happened. This is to keep the evidence safe or to stop people from tampering with things. The Director can also take things that might help figure out what happened.

If the Director wants someone to help with the investigation, they can authorise that person to do certain things. If you are given a summons, which is like an official request to attend an investigation, Section 5 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1908 applies. When the law talks about a document, it means any kind of document, whether it's electronic or not.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7443425.

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246F: Person subject of exercise of Director's powers, or

"What happens if the Director tells you to do something"

Part 19AProtection of marine environment from ballast water

246EDirector's powers

  1. The Director may investigate a discharge or escape of ballast water.

  2. For the purposes of carrying out the investigation, the Director may—

  3. make inquiries of a person who the Director has reason to believe is in possession of information that may assist in establishing the cause of the discharge or escape:
    1. issue a summons requiring a person to—
      1. attend at the time and place specified in the summons:
        1. give evidence:
          1. produce documents or things in his or her possession or control that are relevant to the subject of the investigation:
          2. remove a document from the place where it is kept and take possession of it for a period of time that is reasonable in the circumstances:
            1. require a person to reproduce in a usable form information recorded or stored on a document, electronically or otherwise, or allow the Director to reproduce it:
              1. prohibit or restrict access by persons or classes of persons to the site of the discharge or escape to which the investigation relates, if the Director believes on reasonable grounds that prohibiting or restricting access is necessary to—
                1. preserve or record evidence; or
                  1. prevent any thing involved in the discharge or escape being tampered with, altered, mutilated, or destroyed:
                  2. seize, detain, remove, preserve, protect, or test any thing that the Director believes on reasonable grounds may assist in establishing the cause of the discharge or escape.

                    1. The Director may authorise a person to carry out an action described in subsection (2).

                    2. Section 5 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1908 applies to a summons under this section.

                    3. In this section, document means a document in any form, electronic or otherwise.

                    Notes
                    • Section 246E: inserted, on , by section 86(5) of the Biosecurity Law Reform Act 2012 (2012 No 73).