Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Privacy Act 2020

Sharing, accessing, and matching personal information - Law enforcement information

171: Interpretation

You could also call this:

“Definitions for key terms used in this part of the Privacy Act 2020”

In this part of the law, you’ll find explanations for some important terms. These definitions help you understand what certain words mean when you read this section of the Privacy Act 2020.

An ‘accessing agency’ is a government agency that can see law enforcement information. You can find a list of these agencies in Schedule 4 of the Act.

When the law talks about an ‘agency’, it can also mean a court when it’s doing its job as a court.

A ‘holder agency’ is either a court that keeps law enforcement information (which you can find listed as court records in Schedule 4), or it’s another government agency mentioned in Schedule 4 that keeps this kind of information.

‘Law enforcement information’ means details about a specific person that are listed in Schedule 4 of the Act.

Remember, these definitions are only used in this part of the law, unless the rest of the text says otherwise.

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 It might be out of date or be missing some parts.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

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS23624.

Topics:
Rights and equality > Privacy
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170: Relationship between this subpart and other law relating to information disclosure, or

“How this part relates to other laws about sharing information”

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172: Access by accessing agencies to law enforcement information, or

“Certain agencies can access law enforcement information as allowed by law”

Part 7 Sharing, accessing, and matching personal information
Law enforcement information

171Interpretation

  1. In this subpart, unless the context otherwise requires,—

    accessing agency means any public sector agency for the time being specified in Schedule 4 as an agency to which law enforcement information held by a holder agency is available

      agency includes a court in relation to its judicial functions

        holder agency means—

        1. a court holding law enforcement information described in Schedule 4 as court records; and
          1. a public sector agency specified in Schedule 4 holding law enforcement information otherwise described in that schedule

            law enforcement information means any information that—

            1. is about an identifiable individual; and
              1. is specified in Schedule 4.

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