This Act comes into force on the day after the date on which it receives the Royal assent.

The purpose of this Act is—

• (a) to validate the registration of certain societies as unions under the principal Act, and to provide for matters relating to the validation; and

• (b) to amend the principal Act to provide that the Employment Relations Authority, in complying with the rules of natural justice, is not required to allow cross-examination of parties or persons, but may, in its absolute discretion, permit such cross-examination.

(1) A society that the Registrar of Unions purported to register as a union before the commencement of the principal Act is deemed to be, and to have always been, registered as a union by the Registrar of Unions on 2 October 2000.

(2) The registration of a society as a union on or after the commencement of the principal Act is not to be treated as unlawful or of no effect because the society's application for registration as a union was made, or made and processed, before the commencement of the principal Act.

(1) The certificate of registration of a society that section 4(1) applies to must be read, and has effect, as if the date of registration stated in the certificate were 2 October 2000.

(2) If the certificate of registration of a society that section 4(1) or (2) applies to has been cancelled for the purpose of issuing a second certificate referred to in subsection (3), the certificate of registration must be treated as if it had not been cancelled.

(3) A second certificate of registration has no effect if the certificate was obtained—

• (a) by a society that section 4(1) or (2) applies to; and

• (b) after the commencement of the principal Act but before the commencement of this Act.

(4) The Registrar of Unions may—

• (a) issue a certificate of registration, showing a date of registration of 2 October 2000, to replace a certificate of registration referred to in subsection (1):

• (b) issue a certificate of registration to replace a cancelled certificate of registration referred to in subsection (2) that has been destroyed:

• (c) cancel a second certificate of registration referred to in subsection (3).

Nothing done by any person (including the Crown, the Registrar of Unions, a society, or an employer) is to be treated as unlawful or of no effect because the Registrar of Unions purported, before the commencement of the principal Act,—

• (a) to receive, or receive and process, an application by a society to be registered as a union; or

• (b) to register a society as a union.

No person (including the Crown, the Registrar of Unions, a society, or an employer) is under any liability, and no compensation is payable to any person, because the Registrar of Unions purported, before the commencement of the principal Act,—

• (a) to receive, or receive and process, an application by a society to be registered as a union; or

• (b) to register a society as a union.

Nothing in this Act makes anything done or omitted to be done by a person before the commencement of this Act a breach of an employment agreement or the principal Act.

Nothing in this Act affects the power of the Court of Appeal to make an order for costs, or affects any liability to pay costs, in the case of New Zealand Employers Federation Incorporated v National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) and Others (CA 32/01, 24 September 2001).

Section 157 of the principal Act is amended by inserting, after subsection (2), the following subsection:

Section 173 of the principal Act is amended by inserting, after subsection (1), the following subsection: