1Short title
This Act may be cited as the Legislative Assembly (Powers and
Privileges) Act 1992.
Bills and explanatory statements from legislation.nt.gov.au; second reading speeches from the NT Parliamentary Record (Territory Stories). Links open the official source in a new tab.
Bill homepage (legislation.nt.gov.au)This Act may be cited as the Legislative Assembly (Powers and
Privileges) Act 1992.
The following Acts are repealed:
Legislative Assembly (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance 1977 (No. 10, 1977)
Legislative Assembly (Powers and Privileges) Amendment Act 1989 (No. 45, 1989)
Legislative Assembly (Powers and Privileges) Amendment Act (No. 2)
1989 (No. 81, 1989)
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
Assembly means the Legislative Assembly.
Chamber means the room or place in which the Assembly is at any time sitting.
Clerk means the person appointed to be the Clerk of the Assembly and includes the Deputy Clerk or a Clerk-Assistant.
committee means:
(a) a committee of the whole Assembly or a standing, select or other committee appointed by the Assembly, or a committee of the Assembly established by an Act; or
a sub-committee of such a committee.
document includes a part of a document.
member means a member of the Assembly.
officer of the Assembly means the Clerk, the Deputy Clerk or any other person declared by the Speaker by notice in the Gazette to be an officer of the Assembly.
the Speaker includes a person for the time being presiding over the Assembly or, where appropriate, a committee of the whole Assembly.
Standing Orders means the standing rules and orders of the Assembly for the time being in force.
(2) For the purposes of this Act, the submission of a written statement by a person to the Assembly or a committee shall, if so ordered by the Assembly or by the committee, be deemed to be the giving of evidence in accordance with the statement by the person before the Assembly or committee.
(3) In this Act, a reference to an offence against the Assembly is a reference to a breach of the privileges or immunities, or a contempt, of the Assembly or of its members, committees or officers.
The powers (other than legislative powers), privileges and immunities of the Assembly and of its members, committees and officers, to the extent that they are not declared by this Act, other than this section, shall be the powers (other than legislative powers), privileges and immunities for the time being of the House of
Representatives of the Commonwealth, and of the members, committees and officers, respectively, of that House.
Conduct (including the use of words) does not constitute an offence against the Assembly unless it amounts, or is intended or likely to amount, to an improper interference with the free exercise by the
Assembly or a committee, of its authority or functions, or with the free performance by a member of the member's duties as a member.
(1) For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby declared and enacted that the provisions of article 9 of the Bill of Rights, 1688 apply in relation to the Assembly and, as so applying, shall be taken to have, in addition to any other operation, the effect of the subsequent provisions of this section.
(2) For the purposes of the provisions of article 9 of the Bill of Rights, 1688 as applying in relation to the Assembly, and for the purposes of this section, proceedings in Parliament means all words spoken and acts done in the course of, or for the purposes of or incidental to, the transacting of the business of the Assembly or of a committee, and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes:
(a) the giving of evidence before the Assembly or a committee, and evidence so given;
(b) the presentation or submission of a document to the Assembly or a committee;
(c) the preparation of a document for purposes of or incidental to the transacting of any such business; and
(d) the formulation, making or publication of a document, including a report, by or pursuant to an order of the Assembly or a committee and the document so formulated, made or published.
(3) In proceedings in a court or tribunal, it is not lawful for evidence to be tendered or received, questions asked or statements, submissions or comments made, concerning proceedings in the Assembly, by way of, or for the purpose of:
(a) questioning or relying on the truth, motive, intention or good faith of anything forming part of those proceedings in the Assembly;
(b) otherwise questioning or establishing the credibility, motive, intention or good faith of a person; or
(c) drawing, or inviting the drawing of, inferences or conclusions wholly or partly from anything forming part of those proceedings in the Assembly.
A court or tribunal shall not:
(a) require to be produced, or admit into evidence, a document that has been prepared for the purpose of submission, and submitted, to the Assembly or a committee and has been directed by the Assembly or a committee to be treated as evidence taken in camera, or admit evidence relating to such a document; or
(b) admit evidence concerning oral evidence taken by the Assembly or a committee in camera or require to be produced or admit into evidence a document, recording or reporting such oral evidence,
unless the Assembly or committee has published, or authorised the publication of, the document or a report of the oral evidence.
(5) In relation to proceedings in a court or tribunal so far as they relate to the interpretation of an Act or an Act of the Commonwealth, neither this section nor the Bill of Rights, 1688 shall be taken to prevent or restrict the admission in evidence of a record of proceedings in the Assembly published by or with the authority of the Assembly or a committee or the making of statements, submissions or comments based on that record.
(6) In relation to a prosecution for an offence against this Act or an Act establishing a committee, neither this section nor the Bill of Rights, 1688 shall be taken to prevent or restrict the admission of evidence, the asking of questions, or the making of statements, submissions or comments, in relation to proceedings in the Assembly to which the offence relates.
(7) Without prejudice to the effect that article 9 of the Bill of Rights, 1688 had, on its true construction, before the commencement of this Act, this section does not affect proceedings in a court or a tribunal that commenced before the commencement of this Act.
A member shall not:
be required to attend before a court or a tribunal; and
be arrested or detained in a civil cause,
on a day:
on which the Assembly meets;
on which a committee of which that Member is a member meets; or
(e) which is within 5 days before or 5 days after a day referred to in paragraph (c) or (d).
An officer of the Assembly:
shall not be required to attend before a court or a tribunal; and
shall not be arrested or detained in a civil cause,
on a day:
(c) on which the Assembly or a committee on which the officer is required to attend meets; or
(d) which is within 5 days before or 5 days after a day referred to in paragraph (c).
(3) A person who is required to attend before the Assembly or a committee on a day:
shall not be required to attend before a court or tribunal; and
shall not be arrested or detained in a civil cause,
on that day.
(4) A member or an officer of the Assembly is exempt from serving as a juror and the name of any such person shall not be included in a jury list.
(5) Except as provided by this section, a member, an officer of the Assembly or a person required to attend before the Assembly or a committee has no immunity from compulsory attendance before a court or a tribunal or from arrest or detention in a civil cause by reason of being a member or such an officer or person.
A person shall not within the precincts of the Assembly:
(a) serve or tender for service or execute a writ, summons, warrant, order or other process issued by or with the authority of a court or otherwise in accordance with a law of the Territory; or
except as authorised by section 16, arrest another person,
without the express permission of the Speaker or, in his absence, the Deputy Speaker.
It is lawful for the Assembly to authorise the publication of a document laid before it or of evidence given before it.
Where a document is dealt with in such a manner that, in accordance with the Standing Orders, it is to be deemed to have been presented to the Assembly, a document shall, for the purposes of subsection (1), be deemed to have been laid before the Assembly.
It is lawful for a committee to authorise the publication of a document laid before it or of evidence given before it.
Where the Assembly or a committee has ordered a document or evidence to be printed, the Assembly shall be deemed, unless the contrary intention appears in the order, to have authorised the
Government Printer or the Clerk to publish the document or evidence.
The Assembly shall be deemed to have authorised the Government
Printer or the Clerk to publish the notice paper and the minutes of the proceedings of the Assembly and the report of the debates and proceedings of the Assembly.
The Clerk shall, at the request of a person, supply a copy of the notice paper, of the minutes of the proceedings of the Assembly, of the reports of the debates and proceedings of the Assembly or of any other reports, documents or papers published by the authority of the Assembly or a committee, to the person on payment by the person of the appropriate fee.
The appropriate fee in respect of a publication referred to in subsection (3) is such fee as is fixed from time to time for the publication by the Speaker with the advice, if any, of the committee appointed by the Assembly to advise the Speaker on matters relating to publications of the Assembly.
No action, suit or proceeding, civil or criminal, shall lie against a person for publishing a document or evidence published under an authority given in pursuance of section 9 or which shall be deemed to have been given by virtue of section 10.
In an action or prosecution commenced in respect of the publication of a document or evidence published under an authority given in pursuance of section 9 or which shall be deemed to have been given by virtue of section 10, the defendant may after giving to the plaintiff or prosecutor 24 hours notice of his or her intention to do so bring before the court in which the action or prosecution is pending a certificate under the hand of the Speaker or Clerk, stating that the document or evidence in respect of which the action or prosecution has been commenced was published or shall be deemed to have been published under that authority and the court shall thereupon stay the action or prosecution and may order the plaintiff or prosecutor to pay the defendant his or her costs of defence.
No action, civil or criminal, shall lie against an employee of the Assembly in respect of the publication, in the normal course of the employee's duties, to a member or any other person, of a document that has been laid before the Assembly or a committee or which shall be deemed to have been laid before the Assembly or a committee.
This section does not deprive a person of a defence that would have been available to the person if this section had not been enacted.
Where the Assembly has ordered that words or a matter published in the Assembly shall not be printed or published, a person shall not print or publish outside the Assembly the words or matter or any part or report of the words or matter.
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