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Privacy Act 2020

Complaints, investigations, and proceedings - Proceedings before Human Rights Review Tribunal - Proceedings in relation to complaints or investigations

97: Director may commence proceedings in Tribunal

You could also call this:

"The Director can take complaints to a special court called the Tribunal to help fix privacy problems."

Illustration for Privacy Act 2020

If you make a complaint or someone investigates a matter, it might be sent to the Director. The Director looks at it and decides if they should take it to the Tribunal. They must tell you, the person who made the complaint, and the agency involved what they decide. The Director must give the agency a chance to say what they think before taking it to the Tribunal. If the Director does take it to the Tribunal, they are the one making the complaint and the agency is the one responding to it.

If you are upset about something, you can only join the case if the Tribunal says you can. The Director can take a case to the Tribunal on behalf of a group of people who are all upset about the same thing. They can ask for a remedy, as described in section 102, if they think the agency's actions are interfering with someone's privacy. The Director will decide if the agency's actions are affecting a group of people and if it is an interference with someone's privacy.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS23472.

Topics:
Rights and equality > Privacy
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96: Commissioner to report breach of duty or misconduct, or

"The Commissioner must report if someone from an agency does something wrong."

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98: Aggrieved individuals may commence proceedings in Tribunal, or

"You can take your complaint to the Tribunal if you're unhappy with the Commissioner's decision."

Part 5Complaints, investigations, and proceedings
Proceedings before Human Rights Review Tribunal: Proceedings in relation to complaints or investigations

97Director may commence proceedings in Tribunal

  1. This section applies if a complaint or matter is referred by the Commissioner to the Director under section 78, 84, 91(5)(b) or (6), or 94(4)(a) or (5).

  2. The Director must—

  3. decide whether to commence proceedings in the Tribunal in respect of the complaint or matter; and
    1. give written notice to the following persons of that decision:
      1. the complainant; and
        1. the agency whose action was the subject of the complaint or matter.

        2. Before commencing any proceedings in the Tribunal, the Director must give the agency an opportunity to be heard.

        3. The parties to proceedings commenced under this section are—

        4. the Director, as the plaintiff; and
          1. the agency, as the defendant.

            1. An aggrieved individual may join, or be joined in, the proceedings only if the Tribunal so orders.

            2. The Director may bring proceedings on behalf of a class of aggrieved individuals, and may seek on behalf of the individuals who belong to the class any of the remedies described in section 102, if the Director considers that a respondent is acting or has acted in a way that affects or has affected that class and that is an interference with the privacy of an individual.

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