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Criminal Procedure Act 2011

General provisions - Conduct of proceeding - Withdrawal and dismissal of charges

147A: Dismissal of charge when information withheld due to risk to national security interests

You could also call this:

"A court can stop a charge if sharing some information would hurt New Zealand's safety."

If you are charged with a crime, a court can stop the charge if some information is not shared because it could hurt New Zealand's national security. This can happen if a high court decides that sharing the information would be bad for national security, and the court thinks that not sharing it could make the trial unfair. The information in question is something that you, as the person charged, would normally be told about.

A court can make this decision based on rules from the Criminal Disclosure Act 2008, which are about sharing information with people charged with crimes, as outlined in section 29 or section 30 of that Act. You would normally get to see this information, but in some cases, it might not be shared to protect national security. The court has to balance the need to keep you informed with the need to keep New Zealand safe.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS925674.

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Part 5General provisions
Conduct of proceeding: Withdrawal and dismissal of charges

147ADismissal of charge when information withheld due to risk to national security interests

  1. Without limiting section 147, a court may dismiss a charge under that section if—

  2. the High Court (or, on appeal, the Court of Appeal or Supreme Court) refuses to make a relevant order because it is satisfied that disclosure of the information concerned would prejudice national security interests; and
    1. the court is satisfied that withholding the information creates a real risk of prejudice to a fair trial.

      1. In this section, relevant order means an order under section 29 or 30 of the Criminal Disclosure Act 2008 requiring disclosure of information to a defendant in proceedings.

      Notes
      • Section 147A: inserted, on , by section 28 of the Security Information in Proceedings (Repeals and Amendments) Act 2022 (2022 No 72).