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Criminal Procedure Act 2011

Procedure before trial - Provisions applying only to Judge-alone procedure

79A: Pre-trial admissibility hearing: national security information

You could also call this:

"Secret national security information in court cases: special rules apply"

Illustration for Criminal Procedure Act 2011

If you are in a court case, there might be information that is secret because it is about national security. This information can be used as evidence in a special hearing before the trial. The court must follow special rules from the Security Information in Proceedings Act 2022 when dealing with this secret information.

You need to know that the court can decide if this secret information can be used as evidence. The court will only allow it if the rules from section 79 are met and if the national security secrets will be kept safe. The court can make orders to protect these secrets, like clearing the court or suppressing evidence.

The court has the power to make any other orders it thinks are necessary to keep the national security information secret. This can include orders like the ones under section 197 or section 205. The court's main goal is to balance the need to keep secrets safe with the need for a fair trial.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS925571.

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Part 3Procedure before trial
Provisions applying only to Judge-alone procedure

79APre-trial admissibility hearing: national security information

  1. This section applies in relation to a pre-trial admissibility hearing under section 79 if the application for the hearing is an application to which section 78(2A) applies.

  2. The hearing is a specified proceeding for the purposes of the Security Information in Proceedings Act 2022 in respect of which the special procedures in Part 2 of that Act apply.

  3. The High Court may make an order under section 79(2) that evidence based on national security information is admissible only if satisfied that—

  4. the requirements of section 79 are met; and
    1. the national security interests that would be likely to be prejudiced by fully disclosing the national security information will be adequately protected.

      1. Nothing in this section affects the discretion of the court to make any additional orders it thinks fit to protect the confidentiality of national security information (for example, an order under section 197 (power to clear court) or 205 (court may suppress evidence and submissions)).

      Notes
      • Section 79A: inserted, on , by section 16 of the Security Information in Proceedings (Repeals and Amendments) Act 2022 (2022 No 72).