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Intelligence and Security Act 2017

Covert activities of intelligence and security agencies - Corporate identities

36: Conferring corporate identity, status, etc

You could also call this:

"Agencies can decide to give or refuse a special identity to a group or person"

Illustration for Intelligence and Security Act 2017

If you ask an agency to give a corporate identity to an entity, they can say yes or no. They might say no if they think the identity will not be used correctly, or if they have another reason to say no. When making this decision, the agency thinks about why they are being asked to do this and what rules they have to follow.

The agency also considers what protections are in place to make sure the identity is used correctly. They think about what ministers have said about this issue and any other important matters. If the agency says yes to your request, they can take actions like changing information in public records.

They can even create fake identities to support their actions, and change other information to make sure everything matches. This is all done according to what is said in section 35. The agency can do what is necessary to make the change happen, as long as it follows the rules.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6920992.

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35: Request for corporate identity, status, etc, or

"Asking for a special identity or status for an organisation to help with intelligence and security work"

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37: Maintaining corporate identity, status, or capacity, or

"Helping spy agencies keep secret identities"

Part 3Covert activities of intelligence and security agencies
Corporate identities

36Conferring corporate identity, status, etc

  1. An agency that receives a request under section 35 may—

  2. grant the request; or
    1. decline the request in accordance with subsections (2) and (3).

      1. An agency may decline the request if—

      2. it is not satisfied that the intelligence and security agency will use appropriately—
        1. the legal identity, status, or capacity to be conferred on the entity or proposed entity; or
          1. the unique identifier to be allocated to the entity or proposed entity; or
          2. it otherwise considers that it is appropriate to decline the request.

            1. The agency must, in considering the matter under subsection (2), have regard to—

            2. the purpose of this subpart; and
              1. every relevant ministerial policy statement, to the extent that it is known to the agency; and
                1. the protections that are or will be in place for the purpose of ensuring that the intelligence and security agency will use appropriately—
                  1. the legal identity, status, or capacity conferred on the entity or proposed entity; or
                    1. the unique identifier allocated to the entity or proposed entity; and
                    2. any other matters the agency thinks relevant.

                      1. In granting the request, the agency may do anything to take an action referred to in section 35, including—

                      2. omitting, amending, replacing, or inserting any information in any register or other publicly available records (including, if necessary, creating assumed identities to support the action); and
                        1. omitting, amending, replacing, or inserting operational or administrative information, as necessary, so that it supports the information in paragraph (a).