Power to serve a written notice
206 Power to serve a written notice
A Commissioner may serve a written notice to a person to appear before the Commission of Inquiry and give evidence or produce any documents specified in the written notice.
S. 206(1A) inserted by No. 23/2024 s. 24.
A person on whom a written notice is served may make a claim to the Commission of Inquiry that the person has a reasonable excuse not to comply with the notice.
S. 206(1B) inserted by No. 23/2024 s. 24.
Without limiting what may be a reasonable excuse for the purposes of subsection (1A), a person has a reasonable excuse not to comply with a written notice if—
the person is an individual and compliance might tend to incriminate the person or make the person liable to a penalty in relation to—
an offence with which the person has been charged and for which a proceeding is on foot; or
a proceeding that is on foot for the imposition or recovery of a penalty; or
the information requested is—
subject to parliamentary privilege or public interest immunity; or
prohibited from disclosure by a court order.
S. 206(1C) inserted by No. 23/2024 s. 24.
A person does not have a reasonable excuse not to comply with a written notice only because—
the information requested is the subject of legal professional privilege or client legal privilege; or
another enactment—
prohibits the person from providing the information; or
imposes a duty of confidentiality on the person with respect to the information.
S. 206(1D) inserted by No. 23/2024 s. 24.
If a Commission of Inquiry is satisfied of a reasonable excuse not to comply with a written notice, the Commission of Inquiry, by further written notice, may vary or revoke the initial written notice.
S. 206(1E) inserted by No. 23/2024 s. 24.
Information to which legal professional privilege or client legal privilege applies does not cease to be the subject of that privilege only because it is provided to a Commission of Inquiry in response to a written notice.
S. 206(1F) inserted by No. 23/2024 s. 24.
A person who has provided information to a Commission of Inquiry in response to a written notice cannot be subject to any criminal, civil, administrative or disciplinary proceeding only because the person complied with the notice.
A person must not fail to appear before the Commission of Inquiry after being served with a written notice without reasonable excuse.
Penalty: 10 penalty units or imprisonment for 3 months.
This Act’s bill:Explanatory memorandumSecond reading speech
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