Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Intelligence and Security Act 2017

Miscellaneous provisions - Annual reports

222: Annual report of Inspector-General

You could also call this:

"The Inspector-General's yearly report to the government about their work and how intelligence agencies are doing their job."

Illustration for Intelligence and Security Act 2017

The Inspector-General has to give a report to the Ministers and the Prime Minister after each financial year. You will see this report talks about what the Inspector-General did during the year. The report must say how many inquiries the Inspector-General did, what happened with each inquiry, and if the intelligence and security agencies are doing things correctly.

The Prime Minister gets the report and then gives a copy to the House of Representatives. The Prime Minister can leave out some information if it might hurt New Zealand's security or relationships with other countries. The Prime Minister also gives a copy of the report to the Leader of the Opposition, but the Leader of the Opposition must not share any secret information.

The Inspector-General makes the report public on their website after the Prime Minister gives it to the House of Representatives. The Inspector-General can also give reports to the Intelligence and Security Committee at any time, as long as the Prime Minister agrees. You can find more information about this by looking at the Intelligence and Security Act 2017, and similar laws like the one from 1996 No 47.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

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=DLM6921260.

Topics:
Government and voting > Government departmentsCrime and justice > Police and safety
Previous

221: Annual reports of intelligence and security agencies, or

"Intelligence agencies must write a yearly report about what they did and share it with the government and public."

Next

223: Annual report of Intelligence and Security Committee, or

"The Intelligence and Security Committee must give a yearly report to the House of Representatives about their work."

Part 7Miscellaneous provisions
Annual reports

222Annual report of Inspector-General

  1. As soon as practicable after the end of each financial year, the Inspector-General must provide a report of the Inspector-General’s operations during that year to—

  2. each Minister responsible for an intelligence and security agency; and
    1. the Prime Minister.

      1. The report must—

      2. specify the number of inquiries undertaken by the Inspector-General during the year; and
        1. contain a brief description of the outcome of each inquiry; and
          1. certify the extent to which each intelligence and security agency’s compliance systems are sound; and
            1. contain any other information that the Inspector-General believes is necessary.

              1. The Prime Minister must, as soon as practicable after receiving a report under subsection (1), present a copy of the report to the House of Representatives, together with a statement as to whether any matter has, under subsection (4), been excluded from that copy.

              2. The Prime Minister may exclude from the copy of the report to be presented to the House of Representatives any matter that the Prime Minister, after consultation with the Inspector-General, considers is likely, if disclosed,—

              3. 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.

                      1. The Prime Minister must, as soon as practicable, provide the Leader of the Opposition with a copy of a report that he or she has received under subsection (1).

                      2. If the copy supplied to the Leader of the Opposition under subsection (5) contains any matter excluded by the Prime Minister from the copy presented to the House of Representatives, the Leader of the Opposition must not disclose that matter to any other person.

                      3. As soon as practicable after a copy of a report is presented to the House of Representatives under subsection (3), the Inspector-General must make a copy of the report (as presented to the House of Representatives) publicly available on an Internet site maintained by or on behalf of the Inspector-General.

                      4. The Inspector-General may at any time, with the agreement of the Prime Minister, report either generally or in respect of any particular matter to the Intelligence and Security Committee.

                      Compare