74ADuty to produce document or article

74A Duty to produce document or article

(1) A member of the Defence Force is guilty of an offence if: (a) the member appears as a witness before an Inquiry Officer or an inquiry assistant; and (b) the member is ordered by the Inquiry Officer or inquiry assistant to produce a document or an article that: (i) is in the custody or control of the member; and (c) the member refuses to produce the document or article.

(2) A member of the Defence Force is guilty of an offence if: (a) the member appears as a witness before an Inquiry Officer or an inquiry assistant; and (b) the member is ordered by the Inquiry Officer or inquiry assistant to produce a document or an article that: (i) is in the custody or control of the member; and (c) the member fails to produce the document or article.

(3) An offence against subregulation (2) is an offence of strict liability.

(4) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against subregulation (1) or (2) if the person has a reasonable excuse for refusing or failing to produce the document or article.

Note: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters mentioned in subregulation (4) (see section 13.3 of the Criminal Code).

(5) Without limiting the circumstances that may constitute a reasonable excuse for the purposes of subregulation (4), a member has a reasonable excuse for refusing or failing to produce a document or article if the member considers, on reasonable grounds, that producing the document or article may: (b) be prejudicial to the defence of the Commonwealth.

75 Report of Inquiry Officer