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Parliament Act 2025

Parliamentary privilege - Preliminary provisions

10: Purposes of this Part

You could also call this:

"This part of the law explains what Parliament can and can't do."

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This part of the law has main purposes. You will see it aims to clarify the privileges and powers of the House of Representatives. It also protects people from legal liability for things said or done in Parliament. The law also has secondary purposes. You will find it reaffirms parliamentary privilege and states how the Bill of Rights 1688 applies. It defines what proceedings in Parliament mean and prohibits using them as evidence in court cases, as seen in the Bill of Rights 1688 and the Parliamentary Privilege Act 2014.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS804097.

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9: Outline of this Part, or

"About Parliamentary Privilege: What it Means and How it Works"

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11: How to interpret this Part, or

"Understanding this part of the law: respecting its purpose and government roles"

Part 2Parliamentary privilege
Preliminary provisions

10Purposes of this Part

  1. The main purposes of this Part are to—

  2. reaffirm and clarify the nature, scope, and extent of the privileges, immunities, and powers exercisable by the House of Representatives, its committees, and its members; and
    1. ensure adequate protection from civil and criminal legal liability for communication of—
      1. proceedings in Parliament; or
        1. documents relating to proceedings in Parliament.

        2. The secondary purposes of this Part are to—

        3. reaffirm parliamentary privilege generally, but to avoid its comprehensive codification; and
          1. state the effect of Article 9 of the Bill of Rights 1688, in addition to any other operation it has; and
            1. define proceedings in Parliament for the purposes of Article 9 of the Bill of Rights 1688, and in particular to reaffirm the alteration that the Parliamentary Privilege Act 2014 made to the law as stated in the decision in Attorney-General v Leigh [2011] NZSC 106, [2012] 2 NZLR 713; and
              1. prohibit evidence being offered or received, questions being asked, or statements, submissions, or comments made, concerning proceedings in Parliament, to inform or support effective repetition claims and liabilities in proceedings in a court or tribunal and exemplified by the decision in Buchanan v Jennings [2004] UKPC 36, [2005] 2 All ER 273, [2005] 2 NZLR 577.

                Compare
                • 2014 No 58 s 3