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Civil Aviation Act 2023

Monitoring, investigation, and enforcement - Protections in relation to accident and incident notifications under subpart 5 of Part 2 - Restriction on admissibility of accident and incident notifications

340: Restriction on admissibility of accident and incident notifications

You could also call this:

"You're protected when reporting accidents or incidents, and what you say can't be used against you in court, unless you're accused of lying."

Illustration for Civil Aviation Act 2023

If you tell the authorities about an accident under section 49(1) or (4), they cannot use that information against you in court, unless you are accused of lying about the accident. You are protected when you report an accident, so you can give the authorities the information they need without worrying about it being used against you. This rule helps make sure you feel safe reporting accidents.

If you tell the authorities about an incident under section 49(3), they also cannot use that information against you in court, if you followed the right process. You might have told your employer or trainer about the incident, and they told the authorities, or you might have told the authorities directly. In either case, the information you provided cannot be used against you in court, unless you are accused of lying about the incident.

There is one exception to this rule, which is if you are accused of lying about the incident you reported. In that case, the information you provided can be used against you in court, because the court needs to figure out if you were telling the truth or not.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS167471.

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Part 9Monitoring, investigation, and enforcement
Protections in relation to accident and incident notifications under subpart 5 of Part 2: Restriction on admissibility of accident and incident notifications

340Restriction on admissibility of accident and incident notifications

  1. An accident notification provided by an individual under section 49(1) or (4) is not admissible as evidence in a criminal proceeding against that individual, except in a criminal proceeding that concerns the falsity of the notification.

  2. An incident notification provided under section 49(3) is not admissible as evidence in a criminal proceeding against an individual if—

  3. the individual provided the incident notification to the CAA under section 49(3); or
    1. the individual while employed or engaged by a person (person B), or while receiving training from person B, notified information relating to the incident to person B in accordance with person B’s safety management system, and person B was required to provide, and person B provided, the incident notification to the CAA in accordance with section 49(3).

      1. Nothing in subsection (2) applies if the criminal proceeding is a criminal proceeding that concerns the falsity of the notification.