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Intelligence and Security Act 2017

Miscellaneous provisions - Security records

218: Disclosure of information relating to activities of intelligence and security agency

You could also call this:

"Keeping intelligence and security information secret"

Illustration for Intelligence and Security Act 2017

If you work with security records, you must keep them secret. This means you cannot tell anyone about the activities of an intelligence and security agency, unless you are doing your job. You might be the Inspector-General, the Deputy Inspector-General, an employee of the Inspector-General, or a member of the advisory panel.

The Minister responsible for the intelligence and security agency can still get information about the agency's activities. The Inspector-General must follow any rules the Minister makes about keeping information secret. The Minister can make these rules if disclosing information would hurt New Zealand's security or relationships with other countries.

Before the Minister makes these rules, they must talk to the Director-General of the intelligence and security agency and other people who can help. You can find more information about this by looking at the Intelligence and Security Act 2017 and other related laws, such as the law from 1996 No 47.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6921242.

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Part 7Miscellaneous provisions
Security records

218Disclosure of information relating to activities of intelligence and security agency

  1. The following persons must not, other than in the performance of their functions or duties, disclose to any other person any security records or other official information relating to the activities of an intelligence and security agency:

  2. the Inspector-General:
    1. the Deputy Inspector-General:
      1. an employee of the Inspector-General:
        1. a member of the advisory panel.

          1. Subsection (1) does not limit the disclosure of information concerning the activities of an intelligence and security agency to the Minister responsible for the intelligence and security agency.

          2. The Inspector-General must act in accordance with any certificate given by the Minister responsible for an intelligence and security agency that certifies—

          3. that the disclosure by the Inspector-General of any security records or any other official information would be likely—
            1. to prejudice the security or defence of New Zealand or the international relations of the Government of New Zealand; or
              1. to prejudice the entrusting of information to the Government of New Zealand on a basis of confidence by the Government of any other country or any agency of such a Government; or
                1. to prejudice the entrusting of information to the Government of New Zealand on a basis of confidence by any international organisation; or
                  1. to endanger the safety of any person; and
                  2. that such disclosure—
                    1. should not be made; or
                      1. should be made only on any terms and conditions that are, in the Minister’s opinion, necessary in the interests of security.

                      2. A Minister may not exercise his or her power under subsection (3) until the Minister has consulted—

                      3. the Director-General of the relevant intelligence and security agency; and
                        1. any other person (not being, in the case of a complaint, the complainant) capable of assisting in determining the circumstances and information that are relevant to the inquiry, being circumstances and information that should not, in the interests of security, be disclosed in the course of or in relation to the inquiry.

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