The Short Title of this Act is the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1908.

This Act is a consolidation of the enactments mentioned in the Schedule, and with respect to those enactments the following provisions shall apply:

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, document means a document in any form, whether signed or initialled or otherwise authenticated by its maker or not; and includes—

This Act applies to—

So long as any member of any such Commission acts bona fide in the discharge of his or her duties, no action shall lie against him or her for anything he or she may report or say in the course of the inquiry.

For the purposes of the inquiry, every such Commission shall have the powers of the District Court, in the exercise of its civil jurisdiction, in respect of citing parties, and conducting and maintaining order at the inquiry.

Any person shall, if he or she is a party to the inquiry or satisfies the Commission that he or she has an interest in the inquiry apart from any interest in common with the public, be entitled to appear and be heard at the inquiry.

Any person who satisfies the Commission that any evidence given before it may adversely affect his or her interests shall be given an opportunity during the inquiry to be heard in respect of the matter to which the evidence relates.

Every person entitled, or given an opportunity, to be heard under this section may appear in person or by his or her counsel or agent.

The Commission may receive as evidence any statement, document, information, or matter that in its opinion may assist it to deal effectively with the subject of the inquiry, whether or not it would be admissible in a Court of law.

The Commission may take evidence on oath, and for that purpose a member or officer of the Commission may administer an oath.

The Commission may permit a person appearing as a witness before it to give evidence by tendering a written statement and, if the Commission thinks fit, verifying it by oath.

For the purposes of the inquiry the Commission or any person authorised by it in writing to do so may—

The Commission may, if it thinks fit, require that any written information or particulars or any copies or extracts furnished under this section shall be verified by statutory declaration or otherwise as the Commission may require.

For the purposes of the inquiry the Commission may of its own motion, or on application, order that any information or particulars, or a copy of the whole or any part of any paper, document, or record, furnished or produced to it be supplied to any person appearing before the Commission, and in the order impose such terms and conditions as it thinks fit in respect of such supply and of the use that is to be made of the information, particulars, or copy.

Every person shall have the same privileges in relation to the giving of information to the Commission, the answering of questions put by the Commission, and the production of papers, documents, records, and things to the Commission as witnesses have in Courts of law.

For the purposes of the inquiry the Commission may of its own motion, or on application, issue in writing a summons requiring any person to attend at the time and place specified in the summons and to give evidence, and to produce any papers, documents, records, or things in that person’s possession or under that person’s control that are relevant to the subject of the inquiry.

For the purposes of this Act, the power to issue summonses or to do any other act preliminary or incidental to the hearing of any matter by the Commission, may be exercised by the Commission or its Chairman, or by an officer of the Commission purporting to act by direction or with the authority of the Commission or its Chairman.

A summons to a witness may be served—

The summons shall—

If the summons is posted by registered letter it shall be deemed for the purposes of subsection (2)(b) to have been served at the time when the letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.

Every witness giving evidence, and every counsel or agent or other person appearing before the Commission, shall have the same privileges and immunities as witnesses and counsel in Courts of law.

Every witness attending the inquiry to give evidence pursuant to a summons shall be entitled to be paid witnesses’ fees, allowances, and travelling expenses according to the scales for the time being prescribed by regulations made under the Criminal Procedure Act 2011, and those regulations shall apply accordingly.

On each occasion on which the Commission issues a summons under section 4D, the Commission, or the person exercising the power of the Commission under subsection (2) of that section, shall fix an amount which, on the service of the summons, or at some other reasonable time before the date on which the witness is required to attend, shall be paid or tendered to the witness.

The amount fixed under subsection (2) shall be the estimated amount of the allowances and travelling expenses to which, in the opinion of the Commission or person, the witness will be entitled according to the prescribed scales if the witness attends at the time and place specified in the summons.

The whole or part of any amount fixed under subsection (2) may, with the consent of the witness, be paid or tendered in the form of vouchers or tickets.

Where the Commission has obtained the authority in writing of the Minister of Internal Affairs for summoning any witness, the amounts of the witness’s fees, allowances, and travelling expenses shall, if certified by the Chairman of the Commission, be paid by the Minister of Finance out of the Consolidated Account.

In every other case the person requiring the evidence of a witness—

Except where subsection (1) applies, the amounts of a witness’s fees, allowances, and expenses shall be paid out of the sum deposited under subsection (2)(b).

Every person commits an offence who, after being summoned to attend to give evidence before the Commission or to produce to it any papers, documents, records, or things, without sufficient cause—

Every person commits an offence who—

Every person who commits an offence against this section is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000.

No person summoned to attend the inquiry shall be convicted of an offence against subsection (1) unless at the time of the service of the summons, or at some other reasonable time before the date on which that person was required to attend, there was made to that person a payment or tender of the amount fixed under section 7(2).

The Commission may refer any disputed point of law arising in the course of an inquiry to the Supreme Court for decision, and for this purpose may either conclude the inquiry subject to such decision or may at any stage of the inquiry adjourn it until after such decision has been given.

The question shall be in the form of a special case to be drawn up by the parties (if any) to the inquiry, and, if the parties do not agree, or if there are no parties, to be settled by the Commission.

The decision of the Supreme Court shall be final and binding upon all parties to the inquiry and upon the Commission.

The Commission, upon the hearing of an inquiry, may order that the whole or any portion of the costs of the inquiry or of any party thereto shall be paid by any of the parties to the inquiry, or by all or any of the persons who have procured the inquiry to be held:

provided that no such order shall be made against any person who has not been cited as a party or authorised by the Commission, pursuant to section 4A, to appear and be heard at the inquiry or summoned to attend and give evidence at the inquiry.

For the purpose of enforcing any order of the Commission for the payment of costs, a duplicate of such order may be filed by the person to whom the costs are payable in the office of the Court named in the order, and shall thereupon be enforceable in all respects as a final judgment of that Court in its civil jurisdiction.

In every case where an order for costs is made, the order shall name the Court in which the order may, if necessary, be enforced.

The Court so named shall, where the amount recoverable under the order—

In every case where, under this Act, or any other Act or the Letters Patent constituting the office of the Governor-General, the Governor-General or the Governor-General in Council appoints 1 or more Judges of the High Court or former Judges of the High Court to be members of a Commission for the purpose of holding an inquiry, every such Judge or retired Judge, and the Commission of which he or she is a member, shall, for the purposes of such inquiry, have the same powers, privileges, and immunities as are possessed by a Judge of the High Court in the exercise of his or her civil jurisdiction under the Senior Courts Act 2016.

Where any member of a Commission is a Judge of the High Court or a former Judge of the High Court, any order made by that Commission or any such member—

Where any order made by a Commission (other than an order made under section 42 of the Senior Courts Act 2016 (as applied by section 13A(1)(a) of this Act) or under section 43 of the Senior Courts Act 2016 (as applied by section 13A(1)(b) of this Act) or under section 13B of this Act) is, under subsection (2) of this section, filed in an office of the High Court, that order shall be enforceable in the same manner as a final judgment of the High Court in civil proceedings.

Where any member of a Commission who is a Judge or a former Judge of the High Court makes an order under section 42 of the Senior Courts Act 2016 (as applied by section 13A(1)(a) of this Act) or under section 43 of the Senior Courts Act 2016 (as applied by section 13A(1)(b) of this Act) or under section 13B of this Act, that order shall be enforceable as if it were an order of the High Court.

Where any member of a Commission is a Judge of the High Court or a former Judge of the High Court,—

Notwithstanding the provisions of section 9,—

Any member of a Commission who is a Judge of the High Court or a former Judge of the High Court may,—

Where a Judge of the High Court or a former Judge of the High Court is a member of a Commission and any person does, in relation to—

any act that would, if done in relation to the High Court or a Judge of the High Court or any Registrar or any officer of the High Court or any witness or any proceedings of the High Court or any order or direction of the High Court, be punishable by the High Court under subpart 2 of Part 2 of the Contempt of Court Act 2019, constitutes a disruption of the Commission and any member of that Commission who is a Judge of the High Court or a former Judge of the High Court may exercise the same powers as a Judge of the High Court can under subpart 2 of Part 2 of the Contempt of Court Act 2019, and that subpart applies with the necessary modifications.

Where any member of a Commission who is a Judge of the High Court or a former Judge of the High Court has, under section 42 of the Senior Courts Act 2016 (as applied by section 13A(1)(a) of this Act) or under section 43 of the Senior Courts Act 2016 (as applied by section 13A(1)(b) of this Act) or under section 13B of this Act made an order against any person, that person may, in accordance with and subject to the terms of subpart 5 of Part 6 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011, appeal to the Court of Appeal against the order as if that person had been found guilty in the High Court of a criminal contempt of the High Court; and the provisions of that section shall, with all necessary modifications, apply accordingly.

Where an order or warrant has been made or issued under section 42 of the Senior Courts Act 2016 (as applied by section 13A(1)(a) of this Act) or under section 43 of the Senior Courts Act 2016 (as applied by section 13A(1)(b) of this Act) or under section 13B of this Act by a member of a Commission who is a Judge of the High Court or a former Judge of the High Court, and anything remains to be done or suffered pursuant to the order or warrant—

the High Court may vary or rescind the order or warrant.

Rules prescribing a scale of costs payable in respect of any inquiry under this Act may be made in the manner provided in section 148 of the Senior Courts Act 2016.