Dear Mr Harris

Please find the above attachment relating to your Official Information Act request.

Kind regards

Crown Law Library

-----Original Message-----
From: Alex Harris [mailto:[OIA #602 email]]
Sent: Thursday, 11 October 2012 13:56
To: Library Library
Subject: Official Information Act request - Advice on Public Protection Orders

Dear Crown Law Office,

Yesterday, the Attorney General published their BORA advice on the
Public Safety (Public Protection Orders) Bill. Unusually, the
advice was signed by the Attorney General himself rather than an
official of Crown Law or the Ministry of Justice. Also unusually,
it appears to contradict his views expressed in an earlier BORA vet
of the 2009 Parole (Extended Supervision Orders) Amendment Bill.

I would like to request the following information under the
OIA:

* Did Crown Law provide advice to the Attorney General on the
Public Safety (Public Protection Orders) Bill? If so, on what dates
was the advice provided?
* A copy of any advice provided

As the first part of a request is a request concerning the
existence of information, it cannot be refused except for the
reasons specified in s10 OIA. On the second part of the request, I
am aware that legal advice enjoys strong protection, and the public
interest in disclosure must therefore be extremely high. I think
that is the case here. The Attorney General's opinion is
controversial, and in apparent conflict with his earlier views.
This raises a real question of whether he is properly performing
his statutory duties under NZBORA 1990. Disclosure will allow us to
see whether that is the case, thus promoting the accountability of
the Minister, respect for the law, and good government - which are
the very purposes the OIA exists for.

As the Attorney General himself is not covered by the OIA in the
performance of law-officer functions (Cabinet Manual 8.19), this
request cannot be transferred to him.

I would prefer to receive an electronic response. Queries about
this request will be automatically forwarded to me by the
fyi.org.nz website.

With regards to s12 of the OIA, I am an NZ citizen and in NZ.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Harris

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[OIA #602 email]

Is [Crown Law Office request email] the wrong address for Official
Information Act requests to Crown Law Office? If so, please contact
us using this form:
http://fyi.org.nz/help/contact

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be
published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
http://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

If you find this service useful as an OIA officer, please ask your
web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Confidentiality Notice: This email may contain information that is confidential or legally privileged. If you have received it by mistake, please:
(a) reply promptly to that effect, and remove this email and the reply from your system; (b) do not act on this email in any other way. Thank you.
***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************

hide quoted sections