48Privilege and secrecy

48 Privilege and secrecy

48 Privilege and secrecy

(1) In this clause, mediation session means a meeting arranged for the mediation of a claim and includes any steps taken in the course of making arrangements for the session or in the course of the follow-up of a session.

(2) Subject to subclause (3), the same privilege with respect to defamation as exists with respect to judicial proceedings and a document produced in judicial proceedings exists with respect to—

(a) a mediation session, or

(b) a document or other material sent to or produced to a mediator, or sent to or produced at the Tribunal or the office of the registrar, for the purpose of enabling a mediation session to be arranged.

(3) The privilege conferred by subclause (2) only extends to a publication made—

(a) at a mediation session, or

(b) as provided by subclause (2)(b), or

(c) as provided by subclause (7).

(4) Evidence of anything said or of any admission made in a mediation session is not admissible in any proceedings before any court, tribunal or body except as is otherwise specifically provided by this Part.

(5) Except as provided by this Part, a document prepared for the purposes of, or in the course of, or as a result of, a mediation session, or any copy of the document—

(a) is not admissible in evidence in any proceedings before any court, tribunal or body, and

(b) cannot be the subject of a subpoena issued in any proceedings before any court, tribunal or body.

(6) Subclauses (4) and (5) do not apply with respect to any evidence or document—

(a) if the persons in attendance at, or identified during, the mediation session and, in the case of a document, all persons identified in the document, consent to the admission of the evidence or document, or

(b) in proceedings instituted with respect to any act or omission in connection with which a disclosure has been made under subclause (7).

(7) A mediator may disclose information obtained in connection with the administration or execution of this Part only in any one or more of the following circumstances—