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Evidence Act 2006

Admissibility rules, privilege, and confidentiality - Privilege and confidentiality - Privilege

54: Privilege for communications with legal advisers

You could also call this:

"Keeping conversations with lawyers private"

Illustration for Evidence Act 2006

When you talk to a lawyer, you have a right to keep your conversations private. This is called privilege and it applies if you intend to keep the conversation confidential. You get this privilege when you ask for or get help from a lawyer.

If you ask a lawyer for help, you have this privilege even if you do not actually get help from them. The lawyer can give you advice or information, and you can ask for or get this advice or information. This privilege also applies to people who help with intellectual property, like patents or copyrights.

Intellectual property includes things like books, music, and inventions. It also includes things like company logos and secrets. When you talk to a lawyer about these things, your conversations are private. You can find more information about the Evidence Amendment Act 2016 that amended this law.

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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=DLM393659.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Courts and legal helpBusiness > Intellectual property
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Part 2Admissibility rules, privilege, and confidentiality
Privilege and confidentiality: Privilege

54Privilege for communications with legal advisers

  1. A person who requests or obtains professional legal services from a legal adviser has a privilege in respect of any communication between the person and the legal adviser if the communication was—

  2. intended to be confidential; and
    1. made in the course of and for the purpose of—
      1. the person requesting or obtaining professional legal services from the legal adviser; or
        1. the legal adviser giving such services to the person.

        2. The privilege applies to a person who requests professional legal services from a legal adviser whether or not the person actually obtains such services.

        3. In this section, professional legal services means, in the case of a registered patent attorney or an overseas practitioner whose functions wholly or partly correspond to those of a registered patent attorney, requesting or obtaining or giving information or advice concerning intellectual property.

        4. In subsection (2), intellectual property means 1 or more of the following matters:

        5. literary, artistic, and scientific works, and copyright:
          1. performances of performing artists, phonograms, and broadcasts:
            1. inventions in all fields of human endeavour:
              1. scientific discoveries:
                1. geographical indications:
                  1. patents, plant varieties, registered designs, registered and unregistered trade marks, service marks, commercial names and designations, and industrial designs:
                    1. protection against unfair competition:
                      1. circuit layouts and semiconductor chip products:
                        1. confidential information:
                          1. all other rights resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary, or artistic fields.

                            Notes
                            • Section 54(1): amended, on , by section 20(1) of the Evidence Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 44).
                            • Section 54(1)(b)(i): amended, on , by section 20(2) of the Evidence Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 44).
                            • Section 54(1A): inserted, on , by section 20(3) of the Evidence Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 44).
                            • Section 54(2): amended, on , by section 20(4) of the Evidence Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 44).