159Examination—warrant to arrest witness who fails to

159 Examination—warrant to arrest witness who fails to appear (1) The commission may apply to a magistrate for the issue of a warrant to arrest a person, if the commission believes on reasonable grounds that the person has— (a) been given an examination summons; and (b) failed to appear at the commission in accordance with the examination summons. Note A member of the Legislative Assembly is not required to attend on a sitting day of the Legislative Assembly (see Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987 (Cwlth), s 14). (2) A magistrate may issue an arrest warrant only if satisfied that— (a) the person has— (i) been given an examination summons; and (ii) failed to appear at the commission in accordance with the (b) the commission has taken reasonably practicable steps to contact the person; and (c) the issue of a warrant is in the interests of justice.

(3) In deciding whether it is in the interests of justice to issue an arrest warrant, the magistrate must consider the following: (a) the importance of the evidence that the person is expected to give; (b) whether the evidence could be obtained by other means; (c) the degree of urgency to resolve the matter; (d) the likelihood that issuing the warrant would secure the person’s attendance at the examination; (e) the reason (if any) given by the person for not attending in accordance with the examination summons; (f) the impact of using the warrant for the arrest of the person, in particular, due to disability, health or cultural or linguistic background. (4) The issue of an arrest warrant, or the arrest of a person under that warrant, does not relieve the person from any liability for non-compliance with the examination summons. Note 1 It is an offence for a person to not attend, or not continue to attend, as Note 2 The commission must report monthly to the inspector about arrest warrants (see s 205).