Citizenship Act 1977

Miscellaneous provisions

26: Discovery of documents held under this Act

You could also call this:

"When the government has documents about citizenship, it doesn't always have to share them in court."

If you are in a court case, the court usually asks people to share documents that are relevant to the case. However, if the government has documents related to the Citizenship Act, the court cannot force the government to share these documents, except in certain situations. This rule does not apply if the government is directly involved in the court case and the case is about something related to the Citizenship Act, as stated in section 17 or section 27 of the Crown Proceedings Act 1950.

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This page was last updated on 29 September 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM444013.

Topics:

Immigration and citizenship > VisasImmigration and citizenship > Becoming a citizenCrime and justice > Courts and legal helpGovernment and voting > Government departments

25: Evidence, or

"What counts as proof when dealing with citizenship documents"

26A: Disclosure of citizenship information to certain agencies for certain purposes, or

"When the government can share your citizenship information with other agencies"

Part 2Miscellaneous provisions

26Discovery of documents held under this Act

Notwithstanding section 17 or section 27 of the Crown Proceedings Act 1950, but subject to subsection (2), no court shall have power in any civil proceedings to require the Crown to make discovery of a document or to produce a document for inspection if the document is held by or on behalf of the Crown for any of the purposes of this Act.
Subsection (1) does not apply to proceedings relating to any matter arising under this Act to which the Crown is a party.