50Refusal to answer questions or produce documents

50 Refusal to answer questions or produce documents

A person appearing as a witness at a hearing must not refuse or fail: (a) to answer a question as required by the Chair; or (b) to produce a document as required by a summons served on the person under section 49.

Penalty: Imprisonment for 6 months.

Note 1: This penalty is a maximum penalty (section 4D, Crimes Act 1914). A court may impose an appropriate fine instead of or as well as imprisonment (subsection 4B(2), Crimes Act 1914). If a body corporate is convicted of the offence, a court may impose a fine not more than 5 times the maximum fine that the court could impose on an individual for the same offence (subsection 4B(3), Crimes Act 1914). Penalty units are defined in section 4AA of the Crimes Act 1914.

Note 2: Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code sets out the general principles of criminal responsibility.