Australian Capital Territory Current Acts Australian Capital Territory Current Acts(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person is served, as prescribed under the regulations, with a summons to appear as a witness at an examination before an examiner; and
(b) the person intentionally—
(i) fails to attend as required by the summons; or
(ii) fails to attend from day-to-day.
Maximum penalty: 500 penalty units, imprisonment for 5 years or both.
(2) Subsection (1) (b) (ii) does not apply if the examiner has excused or released the person from attending on a day or part of a day.
(3) A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person appears as a witness at an examination before an examiner; and
(b) the examiner requires the person—
(i) to either take an oath or make an affirmation in accordance with section 22 (Power to summon witnesses and take evidence); or
(ii) to answer a question that the examiner is entitled to require the person to answer under this Act; or
(iii) to produce a document or thing that the person is required to produce by a summons under this Act served on the person as prescribed under the regulations; and
(c) the person intentionally fails—
(i) to either take the oath or make the affirmation; or
(ii) to answer the question; or
(iii) to produce the document or thing
Maximum penalty: 500 penalty units, imprisonment for 5 years or both.
(4) Subsection (3) does not apply if—
(a) a legal practitioner refuses to comply with a requirement to answer a question or produce a document or thing at an examination before an examiner; and
(b) the answer to the question would disclose, or the document contains, a privileged communication made by or to the legal practitioner in his or her capacity as a legal practitioner; and
(c) the person to whom or by whom the communication was made has not agreed to the legal practitioner complying with the requirement.
(5) If, under subsection (4), a legal practitioner refuses to comply with a requirement, the legal practitioner commits an offence if—
(a) the examiner requires the legal practitioner to tell the examiner the name and address of the person to or by whom the communication was made; and
(b) the legal practitioner intentionally fails to tell the examiner the name and address.
Maximum penalty: 500 penalty units, imprisonment for 5 years or both.
(6) Subsection (8) limits the use that can be made of any answers given at an examination before an examiner, or documents or things produced at an examination before an examiner.
(7) Subsection (8) applies only if—
(a) a person appearing as a witness at an examination before an examiner—
(i) answers a question that the person is required to answer by the examiner; or
(ii) produces a document or thing that the person was required to produce by a summons under this Act served on the person as prescribed; and
(b) for the production of a document that is, or forms part of, a record of an existing or past business—the document sets out details of earnings received by the person in relation to the person's employment and does not set out any other information; and
(c) before answering the question or producing the document or thing, the person claims that the answer, or the production of the document or thing, might tend to incriminate the person or make the person liable to a penalty.
(8) The answer, or the document or thing, is not admissible in evidence against the person in—
(a) a criminal proceeding; or
(b) a proceeding for the imposition of a penalty;
other than—
(c) confiscation proceedings; or
(d) a proceeding in relation to—
(i) for an answer—the falsity of the answer; or
(ii) for the production of a document—the falsity of any statement contained in the document.
(9) Subsection (4) does not affect the law relating to legal professional privilege.