Hearings
Sections 32 and 33 of the Police Integrity Commission Act 1996 provide that for the purposes of an investigation, the Police Integrity Commission may conduct hearings.
Hearings may be held in public or private or partly in private and partly in public as decided by the Commission. Whether a particular hearing or part of a hearing is held in public or private will depend on a number of considerations including:
- Whether it is in the public interest for the Commission to publish its interests in particular events or persons;
- Whether the Commission’s investigation is likely to be advanced by the holding of hearings in public;
- Whether the holding of a hearing in public is likely to prejudice any proceedings that may be in or before any court, tribunal, warden, coroner, magistrate, justice of the peace or other person (s.21);
- Potential risk to the safety and well being of witnesses and other persons assisting the Commission; and
- The likelihood of unnecessary damage to the reputation of a witness or any other person.
Public hearings may be attended by members of the public, subject to the availability of seating in the hearing room. The Commissioner reserves the right to exclude persons from the hearing room, in appropriate cases. Generally speaking, private hearings are only attended by the Commissioner, the witness and his or her legal representative, counsel assisting the Commission and Commission staff.
In relation to each investigation which is to become the subject of a public hearing, the Commission will normally publish advance notice of the time and date of commencement of the hearing. These notices may appear in major daily newspapers and on this website.
In public hearings the Commission will generally sit between the hours of 10.00 am and 4.00 pm.