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Criminal Disclosure Act 2008

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Interpretation provisions

6 Interpretation

(1)

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

brief of evidence means—

(a)

a written statement, whether signed or unsigned, made by a witness that is intended to be used by the prosecutor or the defendant for the purpose of a hearing or trial; and

(b)

a document prepared by the prosecutor or the defendant from a statement or statements made by a witness and that is intended to be used by the prosecutor or the defendant as the basis for eliciting the testimony of the witness at a hearing or trial

child means a child as defined in section 2(1) of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989

counsel means a barrister and solicitor as those terms are defined in section 2(1) of the Law Practitioners Act 1982

court has the meaning given to it in section 7

criminal proceedings—

(a)

means—

(i)

proceedings for an offence for which a conviction may be entered, or for an infringement offence; and

(ii)

proceedings before the Youth Court where a child or young person is charged with an offence; and

(b)

includes any appeal against conviction or sentence; but

(c)

does not include—

(i)

any matter ancillary to proceedings (for example, an application for bail or an application for name suppression or an application under section 79 or 101 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011); or

(ii)

any proceedings under the Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971 or any other enactment for any other offence under military law

evidence in support of an alibi means evidence tending to show that, by reason of the presence of the defendant at a particular place or in a particular area at a particular time, the defendant was not, or was unlikely to have been, at the place where the offence is alleged to have been committed at the time of its alleged commission

exhibit means an article or object of any kind that is capable of being produced as evidence on behalf of either the prosecutor or the defendant

expert witness includes a person who will give opinion evidence of a medical, scientific, or technical nature

informant means a person who provides verbal or written information (whether or not in recorded form) to a law enforcement officer

international organisation means any organisation of States or Governments of States or any organisation or agency of any such organisation, and includes the Commonwealth Secretariat

Judge has the meaning given to it in section 7

prosecutor means the person who is for the time being in charge of the file or files relating to a criminal proceeding; and includes—

(a)

any other employee of the person or agency by whom the prosecutor is employed who has responsibilities for any matter directly connected with the proceedings; and

(b)

any counsel representing the person who filed the charging document in the proceedings; and

(c)

in the case of a private prosecution, the person who filed the charging document and any counsel representing that person

publicly available information means information that is contained in a publicly available publication

publicly available publication means a publication (including a register, list, or roll of data) in printed or electronic form that is, or will be, generally available to members of the public free of charge or on payment of a fee

Registrar—

(a)

means the Registrar of the court concerned; and

(b)

includes any Deputy Registrar of that court

relevant has the meaning given to it in section 8

working day has the same meaning as in section 5 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011

young person means a young person as defined in section 2(1) of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989.

(2)

In this Act, a reference to information means any recorded information—

(a)

in whatever form it is contained, for example, in a report, statement, list, or interview; and

(b)

in whatever medium it is recorded, for example, in hard copy, electronic form, or as a sound or visual recording.

(3)

To avoid doubt, and without limiting section 13(7), in this Act a reference to a defendant who has pleaded not guilty to an offence includes any defendant in respect of whom a plea of not guilty has been entered by the court on behalf of the defendant or a defendant to whom section 41 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 applies.

Section 6(1) child: amended, on 14 July 2017, by section 149 of the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families (Oranga Tamariki) Legislation Act 2017 (2017 No 31).

Section 6(1) criminal proceedings paragraph (a)(ii): amended, on 1 March 2017, by section 261 of the District Court Act 2016 (2016 No 49).

Section 6(1) criminal proceedings paragraph (c)(i): amended, on 1 July 2013, by section 8 of the Criminal Disclosure Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 86).

Section 6(1) defendant: repealed, on 1 July 2013, by section 8 of the Criminal Disclosure Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 86).

Section 6(1) prosecutor paragraph (b): amended, on 1 July 2013, by section 8 of the Criminal Disclosure Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 86).

Section 6(1) prosecutor paragraph (c): amended, on 1 July 2013, by section 8 of the Criminal Disclosure Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 86).

Section 6(1) publicly available publication: replaced, on 1 December 2020, by section 217 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).

Section 6(1) working day: inserted, on 1 July 2013, by section 4 of the Criminal Disclosure Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 28).

Section 6(1) young person: amended, on 14 July 2017, by section 149 of the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families (Oranga Tamariki) Legislation Act 2017 (2017 No 31).

Section 6(3): amended, on 1 July 2013, by section 8 of the Criminal Disclosure Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 86).