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Intelligence and Security Act 2017

Covert activities of intelligence and security agencies - Corporate identities

44: Immunity of entity

You could also call this:

"Protection for people working in organisations with special legal status"

Illustration for Intelligence and Security Act 2017

If you are part of an entity that has been given a special legal identity, you are protected from being sued or prosecuted. This protection applies when you do something or do not do something in good faith and with reasonable care, as long as you are doing your job and following the rules set out in section 36. You must be acting in accordance with any protections referred to in section 36(3)(c).

This protection does not apply if you break a contract, unless breaking the contract was necessary to create or maintain your legal identity. It also does not apply if you do something that requires a special qualification, and you do not have that qualification.

If you need a qualification to do something, having a document that says you can do it is not enough if you are not actually qualified. In this case, a qualification means having a special licence, registration, or approval to do something.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6921000.

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43: Immunity of persons complying with request or direction, or

"Protection for people who follow official requests or directions in good faith"

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45: Register of assumed identities and legal entities created or maintained, or

"List of secret identities and fake companies used by spy agencies"

Part 3Covert activities of intelligence and security agencies
Corporate identities

44Immunity of entity

  1. An entity that has been conferred with any legal identity, status, or capacity under section 36 is protected from civil and criminal liability, however it may arise, for any act that the entity does, or omits to do, in good faith and with reasonable care—

  2. in the course of carrying out its activities; and
    1. in accordance with any protections referred to in section 36(3)(c).

      1. Subsection (1) does not apply to—

      2. anything done, or not done, by an entity in breach of any contractual arrangement (unless the breach is a necessary consequence of creating or maintaining the relevant legal identity, status, or capacity); or
        1. anything done by an entity if a particular qualification is needed to do the thing and the entity does not have that qualification (for example, an entity that is not qualified to provide a financial service is not authorised to provide that service even though it has acquired a licence to perform that service).

          1. Subsection (2)(b) applies whether or not the entity has acquired a document that indicates that it has that qualification.

          2. In this section, qualification means a qualification, licence, registration, or other approval.