35Ombudsman, officer or expert as witness

#### 35 Ombudsman, officer or expert as witness 35 Ombudsman, officer or expert as witness > > (1) The Ombudsman shall not, nor shall an officer of the Ombudsman who is not a member of the Police Force, be competent or compellable to give evidence or produce any document in any legal proceedings in respect of any information obtained by the Ombudsman or officer in the course of the Ombudsman’s or officer’s office. > > > (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to any of the following— > > > > > (a) proceedings under or in relation to section 19A, 19B, 19C, 21C, 31H, 31R, 31U, 34, 35A, 35B or 37, > > > > > (b) proceedings under Part 3 of the [Royal Commissions Act 1923](/view/html/inforce/current/act-1923-029), > > > > > (c) proceedings under Part 4 of the [Special Commissions of Inquiry Act 1983](/view/html/inforce/current/act-1983-090), > > > > > (d) proceedings under Part 5 of the [Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009](/view/html/inforce/current/act-2009-052) arising as a consequence of a decision made by the Ombudsman in respect of an access application under that Act, > > > > > (e) proceedings under section 167A of the [Police Act 1990](/view/html/inforce/current/act-1990-047), > > > > > (f) proceedings under the [Public Interest Disclosures Act 2022](/view/html/inforce/current/act-2022-014), section 33 or 37, > > > > > (g) criminal proceedings resulting from an investigation under this Act, but only if the investigation related (whether or not entirely) to a matter referred by the Inspector of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission to the Ombudsman for investigation. > > > (3) Subsection (1) applies to the following persons in the same way as it applies to the Ombudsman and officers of the Ombudsman— > > > > > (a) a former Ombudsman, > > > > > (b) a former officer of the Ombudsman, > > > > > (c) an Australian legal practitioner who is or was appointed under section 19 (4) to assist the Ombudsman, > > > > > (d) a person whose services are or were engaged under section 23. > > > (4) Subsection (3) extends to information obtained by those persons before its substitution by the [Ombudsman and Public Interest Disclosures Legislation Amendment Act 2014](/view/html/repealed/current/act-2014-086). > > > (5) The Committee on the Ombudsman, the Police Integrity Commission and the Crime Commission is to review the operation of subsections (3) and (4) as soon as possible after 5 March 2016. > > **s 35:** Am 1983 No 189, Sch 1 (10); 1983 No 193, Sch 1 (11); 1990 No 79, Sch 1 (7); 1994 No 95, Sch 1; 1998 No 123, Sch 2.1 \[2\]; 2005 No 64, Sch 1.23 \[3\]; 2009 No 54, Sch 2.33 \[6\] \[7\]; 2013 No 65, Sch 3 \[2\]; 2014 No 86, Sch 1; 2016 No 61, Sch 6.35 \[21\]; 2019 No 14, Sch 1.14\[3\]; 2022 No 14, Sch 5\[13\] (subst 2022 No 39, Sch 3\[2\]) \[14\]; 2022 No 39, Sch 1\[16\].