Contempt
41 Contempt
Where a contempt of the Commission is alleged to have taken place, the Commissioner may present to the Supreme Court a certificate setting out the details of the act or omission that the Commissioner considers constitutes the alleged contempt.
A certificate presented under subsection (1) is prima facie evidence of the matters certified within it.
Where a certificate is presented under subsection (1), the Supreme Court has jurisdiction as if the contempt were a contempt of that Court.
If, in relation to the Commission, there is any failure, refusal or contravention referred to in section 13(1), 14(1) or 18(10) of the 1968 Act, it may be dealt with under this section as a contempt of the Commission, and any defence that would have been available in proceedings under those sections in respect of the failure, refusal or contravention is available under this section.
A person is not liable to be punished for contempt under this section in respect of failure to comply with a notice served under section 5 or 6 of this Act if —
the person establishes that there was a reasonable excuse for the act or omission concerned; or
in the case of a failure without reasonable excuse to produce any document or other thing under section 6, the person proves that the document or other thing was not relevant to the inquiry.
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, a person required to comply with a notice served under section 5 or 6 has the same protection, and is subject to the same liabilities in any civil or criminal proceedings, as a witness in any case tried in the Supreme Court.
In this section —
reasonable excuse means an excuse that would excuse a similar failure by a witness, or a person summoned as a witness, before the Supreme Court except that it does not include as an excuse for failing to comply with a notice that —
the production of the statement of information, document or other thing as required in the notice or summons might incriminate or tend to incriminate the person or render the person liable to a penalty; or
the production of the document or other thing would be in breach of an obligation of the person not to disclose information, or not to disclose the existence or contents of a document, whether the obligation arose under an enactment or otherwise.
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