New Zealand Legislation: Acts

44 Applications for exemption

• (1) Where any publication has been classified under this Act as an objectionable publication or a restricted publication, any person may apply to the Classification Office for an exemption from the provisions of this Act in respect of that publication.

  (2) Every application shall be in the form provided for that purpose by the Chief Censor and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee (if any).

  (3) On receiving an application under this section in relation to a publication, the Classification Office,—

  • (a) After taking into account the matters referred to in section 3 of this Act; and

  • (b) If it is satisfied that the publication should be made available to a limited class of persons or to a particular person for educational, professional, scientific, literary, artistic, or technical purposes,—

  may exempt that class of persons or that person from the provisions of this Act in respect of that publication for such period as the Classification Office thinks fit.

  (4) For the purposes of making a decision on any application under this section, section 21 of this Act, so far as applicable and with all necessary modifications, shall apply as if the Classification Office were examining the publication to which the application relates for the purposes of classification.

  (5) The Classification Office shall not decline an application under this section without giving the applicant—

  • (a) A copy of any information on which the Classification Office relies in proposing to decline the application; and

  • (b) A reasonable opportunity to make written submissions to the Classification Office in relation to that information.

  (6) An exemption under this section may be granted absolutely, or subject to such conditions as may be specified in any regulations made under this Act or as may be imposed by the Classification Office.

  Compare: 1963 No 22 s 31(1); 1987 No 85 s 64(1)