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Fast-track Approvals Act 2024

Fast-track approvals process - Panel consideration of substantive application - Hearing of panel

58: Other provisions about conduct of hearing

You could also call this:

"Rules for how a hearing is run, including respect for Māori customs and language"

Illustration for Fast-track Approvals Act 2024

When you are at a hearing, the panel must do some things. They must avoid being too formal, and they must respect tikanga Māori when it is appropriate. They must also let people give evidence in te reo Māori, and Te Ture mō Te Reo Māori 2016/the Māori Language Act 2016 applies to this.

The panel will decide who can ask questions, and only the chairperson or panel members can question a party or witness. But if the chairperson says it is okay, then cross-examination can happen. You should know that Section 4 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1908 applies to hearings, which means the panel can keep order.

The panel can look at any information that might help them make a decision, even if it would not be allowed in court. They can also stop people from sharing certain information if they think it is a good reason to keep it secret, and this is similar to what is said in section 6 or 7 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987. The panel can limit how many people with the same interests can speak or give evidence if they think there will be too much repetition.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS987111.

Topics:
Māori affairs > Te reo MāoriGovernment and voting > Government departments
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57: Procedure if hearing is held, or

"What happens if there's a hearing about your application"

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Part 2Fast-track approvals process
Panel consideration of substantive application: Hearing of panel

58Other provisions about conduct of hearing

  1. If a hearing is held, a panel must—

  2. avoid unnecessary formality; and
    1. recognise tikanga Māori where appropriate; and
      1. receive evidence, written or spoken, in te reo Māori (and Te Ture mō Te Reo Māori 2016/the Māori Language Act 2016 applies accordingly); and
        1. not permit any person other than the chairperson or members of a panel to question a party or witness; but
          1. if the chairperson of a panel gives leave, permit cross-examination.

            1. Section 4 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1908 (which gives powers to maintain order) applies to any hearing conducted by a panel under this Act.

            2. A panel may receive as evidence any statement, document, information, or matter that in its opinion may assist it to deal effectively with an application for an approval, whether or not it would be admissible in a court of law.

            3. A panel may, in its discretion, make an order that prohibits or restricts the publication or other means of communication of information supplied to the panel or obtained by it in the course of a hearing.

            4. Subsection (4) applies whether or not the information is material to determining whether to grant an approval sought in a substantive application if there would be good reason to withhold the information under section 6 or 7 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.

            5. A panel may, if it considers that there is likely to be excessive repetition, limit the circumstances in which persons with the same interests may speak or call evidence.

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